Used articles of different types are sorted into individual types through
a sorting line, and are feed to disassembling lines that are provided for
the respective article types. The sorting line is provided with a type
discriminating section and a sorting section. In the sorting section, a
number of sorting mechanisms are provided for the respective article
types, and are arranged sequentially along a conveying direction of the
articles. The individual sorting mechanism sorts out articles of a
designated type on the basis of discrimination data from the type
discriminating section. A controller counts the number of discriminated
articles separately from type to type, and controls the sorting
mechanisms depending upon the count of each type, to feed the sorted
articles either to a corresponding one of the disassembling lines through
a respective supply line, or to a buffer section.