TOMRA Recycling Sorting’s AUTOSORT sensor-based sorting technology is helping to recover high-quality, high-purity value recyclates at FARZ, the first automated MRF in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The MRF plant has two separate lines – one for municipal solid waste (MSW) and the other for commercial and industrial (C&I) waste. Six AUTOSORT  units are spread across the lines and used to identify and separate plastic materials from the infeed waste streams, and to sort high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) from mixed 3D plastics. 

FARZ is owned and operated by Imdaad, the leading integrated facility management company in the Middle East. Using the latest in automated technologies, the state-of-the-art MRF is capable of handling 1,200 tonnes per day of C&I waste and MSW. An automated system is used to maximize the recovery of the target fractions which are HDPE, PET, aluminum, ferrous metals, OCC, wood and PE bags. 

The process 

Infeed waste arrives by truck to FARZ’s reception area where, following a pre-sorting stage, the MSW and C&I waste are separated into two lines; one for MSW and the other for C&I waste. Shredders on both lines break down the material and trommels separate the infeed material into different fractions based on size. On both lines, the valuable fractions (80 – 300mm) are passed onto the next stage of magnetic separation and the <80mm organic waste and inert fractions smaller are diverted directly to the landfill. Any >300mm material is returned to the feeding area to go through the shredder process again. Magnets and eddy current separators sort the metals into ferrous and non-ferrous metals, removing them in preparation for the next sorting stage.  

Once the metals have been recovered from both the MSW and C&I lines, the first TOMRA AUTOSORT units in each line separate a mixed plastics fraction for further processing into three target fractions: 3D (bottles and plastic containers), 2D (film, cardboard, foil and textiles) and fines. The remaining material passes through a second AUTOSORT unit on each line to separate a mixed paper/cardboard fraction. The residual waste is transferred to a Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) bunker prior to being sold for use in energy from waste (EFW) plants. The final two AUTOSORT units – one on each line – separate out HDPE and PET from the 3D fraction before the material undergoes a final manual quality control check. 

This phased process enables FARZ to produce high-quality, high-purity end fractions of HDPE, PET, aluminum, ferrous metals, OCC, wood, PE bags and RDF. These fractions are baled and sold on to recyclers within the UAE and exported worldwide.   

A flexible, futureproof solution

Mr. Mahmood Rasheed, Chief Operating Officer at Imdaad, commented: “We were already familiar with TOMRA Recycling Sorting’s technology because they have successfully installed numerous sensor-based sorting systems in the Middle East. The company has an excellent reputation as a pioneer and leader in sensor-based sorting technology, with an extensive range of application knowledge. By working closely with our team in the design process, TOMRA Recycling Sorting has helped to deliver a highly automated and highly efficient plant that is achieving fantastic rates of recovery and purity with minimal requirement for manual sorting. The flexibility of the AUTOSORT technology and the ease of upgrading in the future should we need to mean that we have a future-proof solution. We can’t overemphasize the positive impact TOMRA’s knowledge, expertise and technology have had on our business.” 

AUTOSORT and much more 

With up to 320,000 scan points per second, the statement said, TOMRA's AUTOSORT high-resolution sensors collect data on multiple characteristics at high speed to ensure accurate identification of a wide range of materials. To put this into context: TOMRA's optical sorter can analyze and sort the equivalent of a soccer stadium covered in trash in less than 15 minutes.