Tomra supplies Swedish plastics facility

More than 60 Tomra Autosort units are now deployed at a packaging recycling facility in Motala, Sweden, that has been designed to sort inbound discarded packaging into 12 salable fractions.

The Site Zero facility operated by Svensk Plaståtervinning was built in 2019 but in late 2022 celebrated a re-opening after an expansion project involving both Tomra and Germany-based Sutco RecyclingTechnik GmbH. The reconfigured plant is expected to process up to 42 metric tons of material per hour.

Tomra says Mattias Philipsson, CEO of Svensk Plaståtervinning, invested in the extension of the facility “with the aim to close the loop on plastics and enable zero waste” in Sweden.

“Around 33 percent of plastic packaging in Sweden is recycled, but unfortunately there is still a lot of recyclable materials lost,” Philipsson says. “This offers great potential, one that we are committed to unlocking and transforming into a valuable opportunity for the country and the environment.”

He adds, “Since 2019, we have successfully been producing four different types of plastics for recycling. We always wanted to do more, and with the latest technology we’re able to accomplish our goals.”

Oliver Lambertz, a vice president with Tomra, says, “We have accompanied Svensk Plaståtervinning right from the start and have always been excited to be part of this impactful project. Our partner, Sutco, took the lead in building the plant, and we provided all the state-of-the-art sorting technology needed to maximize material recovery. The plant we are seeing here today is the result of three partners working toward a common goal: closing the loop on plastic packaging.”

According to Norway-based Tomra, which has a sorting equipment business unit based in Germany, Site Zero is equipped with more than 60 of its Autosort machines. The Motala facility’s 5-kilometer (3.1-mile)-long sorting line features “high-throughput technology,” according to the equipment vendor.

Among the 12 marketable polymer fractions created at the plant are “a variety of polyolefins, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polystyrene (PS), expanded polystyrene (EPS), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and more,” says Tomra.

Purity levels of up to 98 percent can be achieved, adds the firm, adding that outbound fractions “are then sent to recyclers in the European Union. The owner of Site Zero is also has plans to add reprocessing capacities nearby, adds Tomra.

“We are excited to have such strong and knowledgeable partners at our side,” says Philipsson. “The collaboration in our first project had already convinced us of Tomra and Sutco. It is the quality and flexibility their systems offer and the reliable service that made them our partners of choice. Together we aim to make Site Zero a blueprint for sorting facilities in Europe.”

More than 300 guests were invited to be part of a grand reopening at the facility in mid-November. Looking ahead,  Philipsson states, “Together with our partners, we will make Sweden a leader in recycling.”