Extrusion International USA 1-2022

38 Extrusion International 1/2022 RECYCLING – CASE STUDY TOMRA Sorting GmbH Otto-Hahn-Str. 2-6, 56218 Mülheim-Kärlich, Germany www.TOMRA.com/recycling verted from incineration and to be integrated in the production of high- quality PO recyclates. Cutting down environmental impact The business case at IVAR proves that sorting prior to disposal can preserve recyclable materials previously incin- erated and strongly contribute to climate protection. Prior to opening the waste sorting plant, the separate collection rate in the region served by IVAR was high: 65% of the waste collected in the municipalities was sorted. However, with the plant fully operational, the recovery rates of re- cyclables are now as high as 74%. From an environmental perspective, sorting, recovering, and recycling plastics from mixed waste streams – instead of relying solely on material- dedicated collection systems – leads to a two-fold reduction in CO 2 emis- sions. First, less plastics, that comes with a high caloric value but based on fossil carbon, are incinerated. Second, the provision of high-quality recycled plastics reduces the need for primary production. Thus, IVAR con- tributes to delivering environment- friendly feed and works in line with the principles of a circular economy, resulting in a decrease of 33,000 metric tons of CO 2 emissions a year, which is equivalent to taking 20,000 fossil fuel cars off the road. Looking back and beyond The results have clearly shown that MSW sorting before incineration brings numerous bene fi ts: in Nor- way, the need for separate collec- tion of plastics packaging, and its as- sociated costs, has been eliminated and enabled IVAR to provide ready- for-market recycled material for new products and packaging, while reducing its CO 2 footprint consider- ably. Furthermore, the partners have already started to investigate if glass and biowaste could be pro fi tably ex- tracted from the fi nes fraction (0-60 mm). Automating the sorting process with the latest technology has strongly contributed to this change. How- ever, the partners are convinced that automationonly complementswaste sorting but will never replace local separate waste collection systems. Rather, the components of optimal waste management must go hand in hand – from collection to mixed waste sorting to recycling – to have the biggest impact on how much we recycle. www.smart-extrusion.com Germany Austria and Switzerland Italy Eastern Europe Benelux countries Scandinavia Other Asia Russia South America North America Other Europe 34 600 + average monthly visits Geographic distribution of Smart_Extrusion readers, % The only website collecting information about smart technologies of extrusion 19 8,5 7,8 9,3 1,1 0,8 1 2,2 2 17,9 11,6 18,9