Manufacturing company STADLER Selecciona (STADLER) has successfully delivered Valorsul’s new light packaging plant in Cadaval, Portugal.  

The project, which included designing and installation at Valorsul’s Centro de Triagem do Oeste facility, aimed to increase the plant's throughput capacity while maintaining output purity and simplifying operations.  

Valorsul, an environmental sector leader, processes approximately 850,000 tons of municipal waste annually across 19 municipalities in Greater Lisbon and the Western Region of the country.

The company selected STADLER for the upgrade and optimisation of its sorting plant to meet its ambitious goals. 

Valorsul recycling plant manager António Afonso said: “We chose STADLER because of the quality and detail of the studies they presented. Also, the visits we made to various facilities designed by STADLER allowed us to ascertain the quality of the equipment and of its assembly.” 

The upgraded plant features a new bulky items sorting cabin and bag opener, leading to two STADLER STT2000 ballistic separators.  

These separate flexible and 3D materials, with improved film recovery systems and forced ventilation.  

Metals are extracted using a new electromagnet and eddy current separators, and optical sorters recover polyethylene terephthalate bottles, high-density polyethylene, Tetra Pak, and a Plastic Mix. 

An optical sorter from the original plant now performs automatic quality control of the sorted materials.  

In addition, STADLER's design simplifies the plant's operation, with better access to critical equipment while a metal baler is integrated into the support structure for more efficient baling processes.  

The new facility was completed in just seven weeks and inaugurated in November 2023.  

The project required careful disassembly of the original plant to preserve equipment for reuse. 

Afonso added: “During the assembly phase, the STADLER team stood out for its high level of experience, availability and compliance with safety rules, enabling the project to be carried out safely, on schedule and without delays.”