Municipal Waste Sorting Equipment worked example

Optical Sorter Throughput at 99% sorter availability: a worked example

Push sorter availability up to 99% and the picture changes. This example computes every intermediate figure at that operating point. Use it when sizing an optical sorter for a fiber, container, or PET line and you need a throughput number that matches what the line will really hold, not the brochure rating.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Tons fed per sorter cycle: 0.18 tons / cycle (unchanged)
  • Operating cycles per shift: 480 cycles (unchanged)
  • Sorter availability: 99 % (raised for this scenario; the documented default is 90)
  • Ejection accuracy on target stream: 92 % (unchanged)

Working through the calculation

  • Applying the documented formula (Gross optical sorter throughput = tons fed per sorter cycle x operating cycles per shift) to the inputs above produces each figure below.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 78.69 tons / shift for recovered optical sorter throughput (tons/shift), the number this scenario is built around.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 86.4 tons / shift for gross optical sorter throughput (tons/shift).
  • At this operating point the engine returns 0.86 tons / shift for availability loss.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 6.84 tons / shift for ejection accuracy loss.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where sorter availability sits at 90% and the headline result is 71.54 tons / shift, this scenario comes in 10% above the baseline at 78.69 tons / shift.
  • It computes recovered tons per shift by multiplying gross feed throughput by sorter availability and by ejection accuracy on the target stream. The value of this scenario is the size of the gap it exposes: that gap, priced out over a year, is the budget you can justify spending to close it.

Results at a glance

  • Recovered optical sorter throughput (tons/shift): 78.69 tons / shift (headline result)
  • Gross optical sorter throughput (tons/shift): 86.4 tons / shift
  • Availability loss: 0.86 tons / shift
  • Ejection accuracy loss: 6.84 tons / shift

Run it with your numbers

  • Every input above is editable in the live Optical Sorter Throughput calculator, which recalculates instantly and can be shared with the inputs intact.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.