To help achieve the ambitious sustainability goals set by governments around the globe and move towards a climate-neutral, circular economy, we teamed up with two industry leaders to usher in a new era of advanced mechanical recycling. Out of that collaboration, our demonstration plant in Lahnstein, Germany, was developed.
The existence of this plant is testament to what can happen when leaders take a conscious and intentional approach to a sustainability issue. When they come together and contribute to a solution to one of the world’s biggest challenges. In this case, the challenge of keeping high-quality plastics in a closed loop.
Together, we played to our strengths, and worked within them to create a sophisticated facility that provides brand owners and converters with the most high-quality post-consumer recyclate (PCR) possible. Borealis brought their chemical expertise and recycling and compounding know-how, while Zimmermann brought their command of operations, as well as their experience in sorting multiple types of waste (including plastics), and we (TOMRA) came to the table with our years of experience, market knowledge and, of course, our state-of-the-art technology.
Within the walls of this plant, we are able to process both rigid and flexible plastic waste from household and separate sources. Pre-sorted material or mixed waste streams arrive at the plant, and are sorted according to material, color, and other properties. Thy are then shredded, hot washed, and dried. The flakes are then sorted and cleaned in such way that standard plastic products can be produced out of 100% recyclate.
We look forward to seeing this plant grow and flourish in the future. One thing is for certain: to lead the resource revolution, collaboration is key.