TOMRA sorting equipment installed at Berry's CleanStream plant

Advanced sorting equipment from TOMRA Recycling Sorting, including five AUTOSORT units and one INNOSORT FLAKE unit, has been installed at Berry Circular Polymers’ flagship CleanStream plant in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, the UK. 

The plant began operations in spring 2023, and 48,000 tonnes of domestically recovered household polypropylene (PP) are processed annually. The outputs are used as raw materials exclusively in packaging solutions of Berry.

The five high-speed AUTOSORT units are used to pre-sort and purify the post-consumer PP bales at the plant. They employ unique homogeneous light distribution for improved detection and the high-speed valves can eject even the smallest contaminants with precision.

Meanwhile, the INNOSORT FLAKE unit is used to purify the final PP flake after washing. It incorporates a unique combination of sensor technologies and a dual full color camera to remove undesired colors, polymers and opaque material simultaneously and effectively.

INNOSORT FLAKE has working widths up to two meters and delivers a running capacity of up to six metric tonnes per hour. Its modular design and flexible configuration allow for single or multi step sorting on the same unit to get the purest possible end products.

Berry Circular Polymers plant’s interior.

Look to invest additional facilities

“Modern sensor-based flake sorters are a game-changer for the plastic manufacturing industry. They are capable of detecting and accurately sorting by polymer type, as well as separating different colors, generating multiple fractions at the same time,” comments Steven Walsh, Area Sales Manager UK at TOMRA Recycling Sorting.

Mark Roberts, Circular Value Chain Director at Berry Consumer Packaging International Division, adds: “Following the success of the operations at our Leamington Spa plant, we are now pursuing EU approvals for the material for food packaging applications and, as a result, we’re also looking to build on this investment in the future with additional facilities to produce more high-quality circular polypropylene feedstock.”

In August 2022, Berry’s CleanStream technology was granted a Letter of No Objection from the US Food & Drug Administration, confirming that the post-consumer recycled PP produced by the process can be used in levels up to 100% recycled content for food contact applications.