Sorting equipment and new collection method boost recovery at IVAR facility in Norway, according to Tomra.
The Tomra Recycling business unit of Norway-based Tomra Systems ASA says a system it has supplied to a Norwegian sorting plant has demonstrated that mixed waste sorting prior to disposal can be “a superior solution to separate collection.”
According to Tomra, since the district in Norway served by the plant stopped the separate collection of plastic in its region and deployed a mixed waste sorting system, the facility increased material recovery rates from 28 percent to 82 percent and achieved a recycling rate of 56.4 percent, “thus meeting the EU’s 2025 recycling targets ahead of time.”
Tomra says the IVAR district now “ranks first in processing MSW [municipal solid waste] by volume.”
Situated in Forus in southwest Norway, IVAR manages all residue and waste collection from 10 municipalities with an approximate population of 325,000. With its MSW sorting plant, IVAR now recovers high volumes of recyclable materials before incineration, “reducing CO2 emissions and global dependency on virgin material by supplying high-quality recycled content for new products and packaging,” states technology supplier Tomra.
When local and international recycling targets became increasingly stringent, IVAR recognized the need to improve its waste management and recycling methods. The company sought the advice of Tomra to identify opportunities in mixed waste sorting the plant sent MSW samples from the region to Tomra’s test facility in Germany.
There, analysis showed that whereas paper recovery from its MSW streams performed reasonably well, plastics recovery offered room for improvement. Test analysis unveiled that the household waste contained high volumes of plastic recyclables, even though they were meant to be collected separately.
Based on that analysis, Tomra recommended the construction of a new fully automated mixed waste sorting plant consisting of new facilities for plastics reprocessing and paper sorting, as well as the elimination of separate plastics collection in the region.
Previously collected separately, plastics are now also disposed of in the curbside collection system gray bin and recovered in the new facility. As a result, only the plant’s residues are transported to a waste-to-energy plant, says Tomra.
In late 2014, the plant building project began with Bergisch Gladbach, Germany-based Sutco Recycling Technik chosen as the supplier for IVAR’s combined residual waste and paper sorting plant. Sutco, in turn, selected Tomra Recycling as project partner for sorting equipment. Since the new facility started operation in January 2019, 22 of Tomra’s Autosort sorting units now sort plastics (PET, PS, LDPE, HDPE, PP) and paper (mixed paper, cardboard, beverage cartons) out of what is collected in the region’s gray bins. In addition, metals (aluminum, steel) are recovered.
In the system, collected material larger than 350 millimeters, or mm, (13.75 inches) are sorted by a finger screen and shredded into smaller pieces before two drum screens separate the material into three target sizes: less than 60 mm (less than 2.35 inches); 60 to 150 mm (2.35 to 5.9 inches); and 150 to 320 mm (5.9 to 12.6 inches).
In the next step, Tomra’s Autosort machines recover 90 percent of the mid-sized (2.35 to 5.9 inches) and the large (5.9 to 12.6 inches) plastic fractions before they extract mixed paper. Finally, magnets and eddy currents remove both the nonferrous and ferrous metals, says Tomra.
After plastics have been presorted, they are further sorted by material type. First, ballistic separators separate plastic film and rigid plastics. Afterward, 14 Autosort machines undertake the separation of rigid plastics into PP, HDPE, PS, PET and create a clean fraction of LDPE plastic film.
To further increase purity levels, the clean material fractions undergo a second sorting step, also carried out by Autosort machines, to remove the remaining contaminants. PS and PET considered high-quality end fractions are baled and sent to different mechanical recycling plants in Europe. LDPE, HDPE and PP are washed, dried and pelletized in the IVAR Forus plant and sold as pellets.
The mixed paper fraction, as well as mixed paper and cardboard infeed coming from separate collection, is processed in a separate sorting line. From the more than 23,000 metric tons of paper sorted per shift, 95.7 percent of the infeed material is turned into four salable paper products, including a de-inking grade, OCC, Tetra Pak and other cartons.
“We have been delighted to be given the opportunity to consult with IVAR in the planning of e new plant, provide our latest sensor-based sorting equipment and accompany such an exciting and game-changing project,”, says Oliver Lambertz, a Tomra Recycling vice president. He says the following targets have been met: sort nearly all PE, PP, PS or PET plastics suited for (mechanical) recycling; sort 95 percent of the fractions identified; and realize purity rates of 95 to 98 percent.
Comments Rudolf Meissner, a supervisor at IVAR, “Tomra’s sorters and consultancy convinced us right from the beginning. As we have experienced first-hand, they are an essential tool for automated waste sorting, running high throughput and generating high yield and purity levels alike – the goal all sorting plants are pursuing and the reason why these machines definitely belong in any modern sorting and recycling facility. Combined with their reliable service, we could turn our waste sorting process into a cost-effective and competitive activity.”
Average prices rose 16 percent, according to freight analysis firm.
Traders who move secondary commodities via ocean freight paid even more on average in November than the preceding month, according to a company that maintains a global pricing index.
The Xeneta Shipping Index (XSI), maintained by Oslo, Norway-based Xeneta AS, concludes container shipping pricing “has continued its meteoric rise, increasing by a further 16.3 percent in November.” That “represents the largest month-on-month jump since July and takes the [XSI] benchmark to 121.2 percent higher than the equivalent period of 2020 and the end of last year,” writes Xeneta.
In an eight-page report summarizing its November index findings, Xeneta comments that shipping companies continue to report record or near-record earnings, as they have been throughout the year.
“The extraordinary rise in rates across the major trades has been reflected in the most recent financials of carriers,” writes Xeneta, pointing to results posted by France-based CMA CGM, which Xeneta says posted “a net profit of $5.6 billion” in this year’s third quarter. “Its container business reported a doubling in [sales proceeds] for the period,” Xeneta adds.
While shipping rates outbound from Asia attract the most attention in the consumer products sector, Xeneta says in November, “Far East imports on the XSI grew by 14.6 percent. This is the second-largest increase on record and has ensured the index is 65.5 percent higher than the same period last year. The benchmark is also up by 66.2 percent compared to the end of 2020.”
A copy of the full Xeneta report can be downloaded from this web page.
December 6-7 conference can be attended virtually by overseas delegates.
The 10th Fastmarkets RISI Asian Recycled Fiber and Containerboard Virtual Conference has been scheduled to coincide with an in-person event taking place in Wuhan, China, on Dec. 6-7.
RISI describes it as “a hybrid conference” for both in-person delegates and those registering to tune in to live broadcasts. “Industry experts will be invited to forecast the recycled paper and containerboard industry from a holistic perspective,” states RISI.
Topics addressed include recovered paper consumption, trading inspection procedures, collection methods, paper mill technology and “the changing global market,” according to RISI.
Speakers and panelists have been drawn from RISI itself, plus paper producers Shanying International Holdings, Dongguan Jianhui Paper and Shandong Sun Paper; trading firms Cellmark, Newport CH and Vecycle Ltd.; packaging producer Bingxin Packaging Co. Ltd.; and trade associations the Washington-based Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) and the China Resource Recycling Association.
More information about the event, including how to register, can be found on this web page.
The group says the technology provides a recycling rate of up to 90 percent.
ECI Group, a facility design specialist based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and U.K.- based Wilson Bio-Chemical have signed an agreement to license and offer the Wilson System for waste processing.
According to a joint news release, the Wilson System is a patented waste treatment technology that takes mixed unsorted municipal, commercial and light industrial solid waste and converts it to fiber. The end product sanitizes all the material to produce a range of clean resale products.
“[The agreement] is a major step in the commitment of ECI Group to provide engineering expertise and solutions for the circular economy,” says Joaquin Flores, president of ECI Group. “This is something we owe to current and future generations, and we have spent many years in trying to find the right system and partner.”
Wilson Bio-Chemical says the technology provides a recycling rate of up to 90 percent, providing a sustainable solution designed to valorize waste. Wilson Fibre is the primary product of the system, whichcan be further processed to produce high-value products such as biomass fuel pellets. Other materials separated through this process are clean plastics as well as ferrous and nonferrous recyclates.
The group says the main advantages of the Wilson System are:
The two companies say the agreement provides a base for both parties to improve the system to meet specific environmental, market and client needs. This will leverage ECI Group’s 145 years of engineering expertise with Wilson’s technology to offer to the market a unique, cost-effective and highly scalable global solution to environmental and economic problems, the companies state.
“The Wilson System is a global solution to the environmental and economic problems that are caused by the destructive methods currently used in the disposal of waste,” says Tom Wilson, founder of Wilson Bio-Chemical. “The system is designed to valorize waste; it then becomes an asset from which a diverse range of products matched to the needs of the location can be returned to the local economies, providing a true and sustainable circular economy.”
ECI Group and Wilson are engaged in several projects using municipal solid waste to obtain raw materials for the production of new plastics, fuel or energy.
The Boulder, Colorado, facility will feature semi-automated construction waste sorting and cardboard screening systems.
Western Disposal, a family-owned waste hauler located in Boulder, Colorado, has completed its new materials management center. The center will be a hub for recycling and waste diversion built to serve Boulder and surrounding communities.
According to a news release from Western Disposal, the facility features two new infrastructure assets to increase landfill diversion. It also has expanded public recycling services designed to make meaningful contributions to the community’s sustainability and zero-waste goals.
The company says the expansion was possible with grant assistance from Colorado’s Front Range Waste Diversion program. The company invested in a semi-automated construction waste sorting system that will help with aggregate, cardboard, metal and clean wood recovery and recycling. A second system will be used to screen cardboard out of trash loads. Combined, these assets are projected to increase Boulder County landfill diversion by 10,000 tons annually.
The facility also features a dedicated public drop-off plaza where residents and businesses will recycle a wide range of hard-to-recycle materials. This includes electronics, tires, ferrous and nonferrous metals, as well as yard and wood waste. The company has also added curbside collection and recycling for some of these hard-to-recycle materials to its suite of curbside collection services.
“The new materials management center is three times the size of our existing facility,” says Kathy Carroll, community relations manager for the company. “The larger footprint enables us to accept a wider range of items and materials, delivering the accessibility and convenience critical to successful recycling programs, while also creating jobs and contributing to growing our local economy.”
The opening ceremony for the facility was held on Nov. 19 during Colorado Recycles Week, which was established by Colorado Gov. Jared Polis in 2019.