The present disclosure concerns units for treating used food packages, more specifically for separation and compactization of used capsules containing edible ingredients residues, such that the units are configured to receive and compact a stack of used food packages, as well as separate food substance residues from the packages during such compaction.

In certain embodiments, a system includes at least one optical sensor configured to capture one or more optical data associated with packaging of a waste product and a processor coupled to the at least one optical sensor. The processor may be configured to determine information about the waste product based on the optical data and send a signal corresponding to the information to one of a destination device and a controller based on the determined information.

The present disclosure concerns units for treating used food packages, more specifically for separation and compactization of used capsules containing edible ingredients residues, such that the units are configured to receive and compact a stack of used food packages, as well as separate food substance residues from the packages during such compaction.