New mechanical recycling demo plant Borealis and Tomra marries chemistry with technology

Today saw the operational start of the advanced mechanical recycling demo plant built in Lahnstein, Germany, by Austrian raw materials producer Borealis and Norway-based waste collection and sorting systems expert Tomra. The plant is jointly operated by the two companies, in collaboration with waste management company Zimmerman. The partnership marries chemistry with technology for 'unsurpassed' results, the companies said.

At the plant, both rigid and flexible household plastic waste is sorted and then processed into high purity, low odour, regranulated pellets. The ready-for-market, fully formulated material features the high product consistency and light colour fractions so essential in numerous higher end plastic automotive or consumer product applications.
The purpose of the demo plant is to generate material for brand owners and converters to qualify, validate and prove fit for use in demanding applications. The first material will become available for qualification in early 2021. Once the technical success of the process has been established, the companies hope to proceed towards a commercial-scale advanced recycling plant.

The plant embodies the principles of Borealis’ EverMind platform, the umbrella brand created to heighten the visibility of plastics circularity and to innovate this through collaboration, said Lucrèce Foufopoulos, Borealis Executive Vice President Polyolefins, Innovation & Technology and Circular Economy Solutions.

The material will be sold under the trade name Borcycle M grade recycled polymers and will meet customer quality requirements across the value chain.

“Offering brand owners and converters top quality recycled material, suitable for use in highly demanding applications is Borealis’ latest contribution to a more circular economy of plastics,” added Foufopoulos.

However, it’s just the beginning of what’s possible when key players in the value chain come together to make a truly significant impact in the market.

“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,” said Volker Rehrmann, Executive Vice President and Head of Circular Economy at Tomra.

Operational responsibilities are divided between the three companies. Borealis is responsible for the plant’s commercial success and contributes its expertise and knowledge in innovation, recycling and compounding. Tomra, too, 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. Zimmerman, as a waste management company with experience in sorting multiple types of waste, including plastics, is responsible for successful plant operations and product quality.

Market demand for high quality recycled plastic is rising fast and for supply to keep pace, initiatives like this are crucial.

“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,” confirmed Thorsten Leopold, Director International Packaging Technology Home Care at Henkel, who showed enthusiasm about this collaborative effort aimed at lifting mechanical recycling ‘to a new level’.

Gian De Belder, Procter & Gamble Technical Director, R&D Packaging Sustainability agreed.

“The innovative new approach that Borealis is 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. Early tests of the material looks very promising!” he said.