System and process for sorting and recovery of recyclable materials from mixed waste

A process for sorting and recovering recycled material from a mixed solid waste stream comprising commercial and industrial waste, comprising:

• discharging the mixed solid waste stream onto a tipping floor;
• identifying contaminants in the mixed solid waste stream;
• removing the contaminants from the mixed solid waste stream, resulting in the mixed solid waste stream comprising a raw waste material comprising corrugated cardboard, plastic film and rigid plastics;
• fluffing the raw waste material to reduce the density, wherein the fluffing comprises picking up the raw waste material from the tipping floor and dropping the raw waste material onto the tipping floor, and then feeding the raw waste material from the tipping floor into a drum and rotating the raw waste material in the drum to break up clumps of compacted raw waste material;
• extracting the plastic film from the mixed solid waste stream, resulting in the mixed solid waste stream comprising corrugated cardboard and rigid plastics;
• removing the rigid plastics from the mixed solid waste stream, resulting in the mixed solid waste stream comprising corrugated cardboard;
• and
• recovering the corrugated cardboard as a recycled material.