Extrusion 3-2018

TOMRA SORTING GMBH Otto-Hahn-Str. 6, 56218 Mülheim-Kärlich, Germany www.tomra.com/recycling Montello S.p.A. Via Fabio Filzi, 5 - 24060 Montello (BG), Italy www.montello-spa.it lian consortium for the collection and recycling of plastic packaging. It was so efficient that the flow diagram of the sort- ing process, defined for that first plant, is still taken as a stan- dard of reference by all COREPLA Sorting Facilities that use au- tomatic sensor-based sorting systems. Montello currently has 40 AUTOSORT machines, which are mainly used in the sorting and recycling of post-consumer plas- tic packaging. TOMRA’s AUTOSORT machines use spectrometry combining NIR (Near InfraRed) and VIS (Visible) sensors in a uni- versal modular sorting system that can accurately and quickly recognise and separate a huge amount of material, according to its type and composition, to extract high-purity fractions. NIR technology is used for sorting polymers and the VIS sensors for sorting colours. In addition to receiving plastic packaging waste from Milan and Bergamo, Montello also receives 60% of Lombardy’s plastic waste. The plastic from Milan (collected by AMSA) also comes with aluminium cans, which are therefore sorted and separa- ted. Sorting is performed by rollers, separators and suction units and, above all, by the high-resolution NIR (infrared) sensors of TOMRA's AUTOSORT machines installed along six different lines: materials are sorted by type of polymer and, in the case of PET liquid containers, also by colour, at a speed of 3 m/s. The extracted secondary raw material is then separated into: flakes of PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) from beverage bottles; gra- nules of HDPE (high-density polyethylene) from bottles for li- quids such as detergents, and granules of LDPE (low-density polyethylene) and mixed polyolefins, from carrier bags and film-type packaging. The secondary raw materials are then sold to produce new wrapping and packaging materials, objects, containers, build- ing material, vases and other plastic items. There is also one fi- nished product that is made by Montello: dimpled geomembra- ne, used as an insulating layer in the construction industry. At this facility, 80% of plastic is transformed into secondary raw materials, 20% into secondary solid fuel (used as a coke substitute at cement works and blast furnaces). Nothing is sent to landfills. "Of the technologies used in our production system, the soluti- ons provided by TOMRA ensure high yield and satisfaction" said Angelo Giavazzi, Technical Production Manager at Montel- lo S.p.A. The facility ranks first among COREPLA centres in Italy in terms of the amount of material processed each year and sorting efficiency (performance). This is also thanks to the cutt- ing edge technology of TOMRA Sorting Recycling. 38 Recycling – Case Study Extrusion 3/2018 www.extrusion-info.com