Borealis and Tomra announced the operational start of their advanced mechanical recycling demo plant in Lahnstein, Germany, for post-consumer plastic waste. The plant operation is a joint enterprise between Borealis, Tomra and waste management company Zimmermann.
The facility will process both rigid and flexible plastic waste from households. And it will produce the advanced solutions necessary for use in high-demanding plastic applications in various industries, including automotive and consumer products. With high purity, low odour, high product consistency and light colour fractions, these grade recycled polymers will meet customer quality requirements across the value chain, as per the statement.
“This plant embodies the principles of the platform founded by Borealis, which seeks to innovate plastics circularity through collaboration,” said Lucrèce Foufopoulos, Borealis Executive Vice President Polyolefins, Innovation & Technology and Circular Economy Solutions. “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. Life demands progress, and through collaboration we re-invent for more sustainable living.”
The demo plant aims to generate material for brand owners and converters to qualify, validate and prove fit for use in their highly demanding applications. According to the press release, technical success will set the groundwork for a commercial-scale advanced recycling plant.
“This plant is 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,” said Volker Rehrmann, Executive Vice President and Head of Circular Economy at Tomra. “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. We are proud to have initiated one of the most advanced mechanical recycling plants when it comes to post-consumer polymer waste. This will become an important enabler as we accelerate the transformation to a circular economy in the years to come, and we are excited to be a part of this pioneering project.”
Gian De Belder, Procter & Gamble (P&G) Technical Director, R&D Packaging Sustainability, commented, “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 look very promising!”