These facilities have the same technical features as light packaging sorting plants, but in addition they have to sort large amounts of paper and card, which may constitute 50% by weight of the incoming material.

This large amount of paper and card that characterises mixed waste translates during sorting to a more careful pre-treatment that enables is to be removed as soon as possible to make sorting the other recovered material (PET, HDPE –white and coloured–, LDPE, ferrous and aluminium packaging, drinks cartons and plastic mix) easier.