TOMRA and Borealis have announced the operational start of their advanced mechanical recycling demo plant in Lahnstein, Germany, the result of a partnership that marries chemistry with technology for unsurpassed results.

Operation of the plant is a joint enterprise between TOMRA, Borealis and Zimmerman. Borealis is responsible for the plant’s commercial success and contributes its expertise and knowledge in innovation, recycling and compounding.

Likewise, TOMRA contributes as a provider of technology-led solutions and brings its proven expertise, established process and market knowledge which, in turn, enable the circular economy through advanced collection and sorting systems.

The advanced mechanical recycling demo plant.

Zimmerman is a waste management company with experience in sorting multiple types of waste, including plastics, and is responsible for successful plant operations and product quality.

“Having just launched the new Circular Economy Division, it is clear what a large role waste management and pivotal projects like this have on moving towards a sustainable future. We are proud to have initiated one of the most advanced mechanical recycling plants when it comes to post-consumer polymer waste,” expressed Volker Rehrmann, Executive Vice President and Head of Circular Economy at TOMRA.

“This plant embodies the principles of the EverMinds platform founded by Borealis, which seeks to innovate plastics circularity through collaboration,” noted Lucrèce Foufopoulos, Borealis Executive Vice President Polyolefins, Innovation & Technology and Circular Economy Solutions.

The state-of-the-art plant processes both rigid and flexible plastic waste from households. And unlike many current recycling plants, it will produce the advanced solutions necessary for use in high-demanding plastic applications in various industries, including automotive and consumer products.

The polypropylene flakes.

With high purity, low odor, high product consistency and light color fractions, these Borcycle M grade recycled polymers will meet customer quality requirements across the value chain.

The purpose of this demo plant is to generate material for brand owners and converters to qualify, validate and prove fit for use in their highly demanding applications. Technical success will set the groundwork for a commercial-scale advanced recycling plant.

“The innovative new approach that TOMRA and Borealis are taking shows potential to step-change both the quantity and quality of PCR available for our brands and help us to achieve our 2030 goal to reduce our use of virgin plastic in packaging by 50%, or 300 kilotonnes annually,” said Gian De Belder, Procter & Gamble (P&G) Technical Director, R&D Packaging Sustainability.

“At Henkel, we want to reduce fossil-based virgin plastic to 50% by 2025. One major challenge towards more circular packaging is the availability of high-quality recycled plastics that can be used in the packaging of our brands,” commented Thorsten Leopold, Director International Packaging Technology Home Care at Henkel. “We are, therefore, very excited that this project brings together three proven experts along the value chain with the ambition to lift mechanical recycling to a new level.”

TOMRA and Borealis have announced the operational start of their advanced mechanical recycling demo plant in Lahnstein, Germany, the result of a partnership that marries chemistry with technology for unsurpassed results.

Operation of the plant is a joint enterprise between TOMRA, Borealis and Zimmerman. Borealis is responsible for the plant’s commercial success and contributes its expertise and knowledge in innovation, recycling and compounding.

Likewise, TOMRA contributes as a provider of technology-led solutions and brings its proven expertise, established process and market knowledge which, in turn, enable the circular economy through advanced collection and sorting systems.

The advanced mechanical recycling demo plant.

Zimmerman is a waste management company with experience in sorting multiple types of waste, including plastics, and is responsible for successful plant operations and product quality.

“Having just launched the new Circular Economy Division, it is clear what a large role waste management and pivotal projects like this have on moving towards a sustainable future. We are proud to have initiated one of the most advanced mechanical recycling plants when it comes to post-consumer polymer waste,” expressed Volker Rehrmann, Executive Vice President and Head of Circular Economy at TOMRA.

“This plant embodies the principles of the EverMinds platform founded by Borealis, which seeks to innovate plastics circularity through collaboration,” noted Lucrèce Foufopoulos, Borealis Executive Vice President Polyolefins, Innovation & Technology and Circular Economy Solutions.

The state-of-the-art plant processes both rigid and flexible plastic waste from households. And unlike many current recycling plants, it will produce the advanced solutions necessary for use in high-demanding plastic applications in various industries, including automotive and consumer products.

The polypropylene flakes.

With high purity, low odor, high product consistency and light color fractions, these Borcycle M grade recycled polymers will meet customer quality requirements across the value chain.

The purpose of this demo plant is to generate material for brand owners and converters to qualify, validate and prove fit for use in their highly demanding applications. Technical success will set the groundwork for a commercial-scale advanced recycling plant.

“The innovative new approach that TOMRA and Borealis are taking shows potential to step-change both the quantity and quality of PCR available for our brands and help us to achieve our 2030 goal to reduce our use of virgin plastic in packaging by 50%, or 300 kilotonnes annually,” said Gian De Belder, Procter & Gamble (P&G) Technical Director, R&D Packaging Sustainability.

“At Henkel, we want to reduce fossil-based virgin plastic to 50% by 2025. One major challenge towards more circular packaging is the availability of high-quality recycled plastics that can be used in the packaging of our brands,” commented Thorsten Leopold, Director International Packaging Technology Home Care at Henkel. “We are, therefore, very excited that this project brings together three proven experts along the value chain with the ambition to lift mechanical recycling to a new level.”