Plastics must be sorted prior to mechanical recycling. At the moment in the UK most sorting for mechanical recycling is done by trained staff who manually sort the plastics into polymer type and/or colour. Technology is being introduced to sort plastics automatically, using various techniques such as X-rays. Following sorting, the plastic is either melted down directly and moulded into a new shape, or melted down after being shredded into flakes and then processed into granules called regranulate, which can be used in the production of hard plastic items such as garden furniture, wheelie bins, compost bins and drainage pipes.