Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Machine for Separating Garbage

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

RIO DE JANEIRO, Mar 1 2010 (IPS) - A machine invented by students at SENAI, an industrial training center in Concordia, in southern Brazil, can separate out garbage by type, replacing what can be dangerous manual work. A machine invented by students at SENAI, an industrial training center in Concordia, in southern Brazil, can separate out garbage by type, replacing what can be dangerous manual work.

The apparatus has a three-meter conveyor belt that uses a blast of air to remove paper and plastic, magnets to attract metals, and water to separate heavy items from lower-density items. A grinder is also used to break down glass.

The idea emerged from a student “challenge” to find solutions to the garbage separation problem, and advanced in dialogue with people involved in the recycling sector, professor and project advisor Claudemir Oldoni told Tierramérica.

Two companies have expressed interest in the machine, which is up for a prize at the innovation fair to take place in March in Rio de Janeiro, Oldoni said.