With only around 10% of the approximately 400 million tonnes of plastic produced annually being recycled, there is very considerable scope for improvement. Advances in technology are now helping to boost the quality of the recycling process. These include the development of and application of high-tech optical sorting solutions that make extremely precise material separation possible, resulting in a purification rate of up to 99.99 percent of the sorted plastic.
With over 50 years of experience, Denmark-based Cimbria, a supplier of turnkey solutions and optical sorting systems, is a major player in this space. Its products are well placed to contribute to the efforts currently ongoing around the world to address the problem of plastic pollution.
In 2023, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) published a roadmap outlining solutions to reduce global plastic pollution by 80 percent in 2040. For this to be feasible, countries and companies must make deep policy and market shifts using existing technologies.
Currently, the recycling sector accounts for about one-third of Cimbria’s turnover, with plastic recycling representing the lion’s share. This means that the development of technology and software used in the optical sorters are an important focus within Cimbria’s business.
According to Lorenzo Tinti, Cimbria’s head of sales for Optical Sorting in Italy about 50 percent of the performance of an optical sorter is determined by the software.
“Our software is developed in-house and has always been our flagship. With interconnected equipment and advanced data analyses we can provide actionable results, insights, and recommendations that help our customers to make informed decisions which can improve the productivity of their plants,” he said.
Italian legislation has put plastics recycling in Italy ahead of the game. Cimbria’s optical sorting systems have recently been installed at wo recyclers in Northern Italy. Plastisavio, in Bertinoro, sorts materials derived from waste electrical and electronic equipment, such as refrigerators and has developed a dry recycling process for polystyrene using a combination of a Delta Screen Cleaner and a SEA.HY Optical Sorter from Cimbria.
“The plastic recycling world is very interested in optical sorting technology as it allows for the recovery of materials, which were unthinkable to recycle until a few years ago,” said Pier Paolo Rossi, General Manager at Plastisavio S.p.A.