Norway-based Tomra Sorting Recycling has published an e-book for businesses that sort paper and cardboard for deinking and recycling. According to Tomra, the publication addresses commercial and regulatory pressures for higher recovery rates of deinked pulp and the fact that meeting these demands will require new technical solutions.

The e-book opens with the statement: “Deinking needs rethinking.” This is because the demand for deinked and recycled paper is growing, Tomra says. Europe recycled more than 72 percent of all the paper it consumed in 2016. The European Declaration on Paper Recycling has set the goal of recycling 74 percent by 2020.

The company says another example is China’s tightening regulations. All recyclable materials arriving in the country must have purity levels greater than 99.5 percent. This means more paper sorting, deinking and recycling will have to be done "at home," Tomra says.

Tomra’s e-book looks at a new technology, which can improve sorting paper and cardboard for deinking. According to the company, Sharp Eye is a breakthrough technology made by enhancing Tomra’s Flying Beam, which focuses on the area of the conveyor belt being scanned.

The company reports the new process using Sharp Eye technology identifies materials suitable for deinking in a one-step process with recovery rates of recyclable paper above 90 percent.

More information on Tomra Sorting Recycling is available here.

Tomra Sorting Recycling designs and manufactures sensor-based sorting technologies for the global recycling and waste management industry. More than 5,500 systems have been installed in 80 countries worldwide.

Tomra Sorting Recycling is part of Tomra Sorting Solutions, which also develops sensor-based systems for sorting, peeling and process analytics for the food, mining and other industries. Tomra Sorting Solutions is owned by Norwegian company Tomra Systems ASA.

The Beijing-based China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association Recycling Metals Branch (CMRA) is now accepting registrations for the 2018 edition of its annual convention. That event will take place Nov. 7-9 at the Dongfang Hotel in Guangzhou, China.

About one month later, United States-based forest products information services provider RISI is hosting its 7th International Recycled Fiber and Containerboard Conference in the South China city of Shenzhen, which borders Hong Kong.

The CMRA says its theme of “New Start, New Progress and New Development” will “discuss frontier issues of industrial cooperation and green development” in the nonferrous metals recycling and production industries in China.

The CMRA says it is inviting more than 1,000 delegates from within China and around the world, including invitations to “international institutions such as Bureau of International Recycling (BIR), the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) and the Bureau of the Middle East Recycling (BMR).”

The organization says its CMRA Annual Convention provides “forums with rich content; a one-stop service platform; an exhibition trade fair with special promotions; government and commercial closed-door meetings; international technical exchanges; and on-site business visiting [opportunities.”

More information on the November CMRA event in Guangzhou can be found on this web page or can be obtained by emailing cmra@chinacmra.org. The CMRA issued its 2018 convention registration form and began accepting registrations on Wednesday, Aug. 22.

RISI’s event in Shenzhen takes place Dec. 5-7 at the JW Marriott Hotel Shenzhen in the Futian Business District, near the Hong Kong border.

RISI says the conference is being designed to “gather industrial expertise together to provide a holistic view of the market dynamics of recovered paper and containerboard and deliver key insights into this growing and volatile market in China and Southeast Asia.”

Expected to attend are collectors, traders, producers, converters and end users of recycled fiber and containerboard. Topics listed as covered as part of the conference’s program include: China’s recovered paper outlook; trends in North American and European recycling; the Southeast Asia containerboard market’s outlook; and technology innovations in containerboard production.

More information on how to register for the event can be found on this web page.

A trio of companies from different nations has announced a partnership designed to recycle polystyrene packaging collected in consumer curbside and drop-off recycling systems and from sources such as restaurants, offices, schools and universities.

The three entities behind the effort are Canada-based ReVital Polymers; Canada-based Pyrowave and Germany-based INEOS Styrolution. The announcement was made in mid-September at the G7 Ministerial Meeting on Working Together on Climate Change, Oceans and Clean Energy in Charlevoix, Quebec, Canada.

According to the three firms, the collaboration will use “advanced recycling technology pioneered by Pyrowave that will close the loop by recycling single-serve polystyrene packaging and utilizing recycled polystyrene in the manufacturing of new products and packaging.”

Polystyrene is commonly used in foam form as rigid packaging and in containers, cups and utensils in supermarkets and take-out food service applications. ReVital, Pyrowave and INEOS Styrolution say their proposed system can “change the way postconsumer polystyrene packaging is recycled in an integrated, restorative and regenerative manner that maintains the material’s highest utility and value within a circular economy.”

ReVital Polymers Inc., Sarnia, Ontario, says it will install Pyrowave’s catalytic microwave depolymerization (CMD) technology as part of its plastics recycling process. Pyrowave’s microwave machine can convert ReVital’s sorted postconsumer polystyrene packaging to a liquid that contains plastic building blocks, called monomers, that can then be used by INEOS Styrolution. 

INEOS Styrolution makes and supplies polystyrene for various food service packaging applications and consumer goods products. INEOS Styrolution will process the material from ReVital and Pyrowave in a final step to return it to virgin resin designed to be then used in any new polystyrene application. 

“This is a game changer for consumers and for municipal and industrial, commercial and institutional recycling programs,” says Keith Bechard, chief commercial officer at ReVital Polymers Inc. “Polystyrene packaging, regardless of color, food residue or odors, can be successfully added to recycling programs. When these materials are shipped to ReVital, they will be recycled into a high-value material that closes the loop. For ReVital, this project is an opportunity to increase our range of acceptable feedstock, increase the recovery rate for residential and commercial recycling programs and increase our value proposition to customers.”

“Although we know there is a lot of polystyrene waste around us, surprisingly the challenge we face is the lack of available material because it is not properly recovered,” says Jocelyn Doucet, CEO of Pyrowave. “Pyrowave’s technology expands the range of acceptable polystyrene feedstock, making it possible to build a new value chain that links ReVital’s processing expertise with INEOS Styrolution’s global end-market capacity.”

The trio of companies says it would like to send the signal that postconsumer polystyrene can now be accepted through various collection programs, and that new technologies like Pyrowave’s are generating chemicals used by the manufacturers as feedstock to make new products and close the loop.

“INEOS Styrolution is extremely excited about this project, which brings together major players across the value chain with a smart solution to recycle polystyrene through new innovative technologies,” says Ricardo Cuetos, vice president, Americas, Standard Products, with INEOS Styrolution America LLC. “Chemical recycling enables us to close the loop and prevents valuable waste from entering our lands, waterways and oceans.”  

East-Terra Plastics, Indianapolis, plans to relocate its operations in October to Connersville, Indiana. The company, which launched in 2006, serves as a large commercial and postindustrial recycler serving customers across the Midwest. 

According to the company, East Terra Plastics started to talk to the Fayette County Economic Development Group earlier this summer about its relocation plans and signed an agreement to occupy part of a vacant building in Connersville.

East-Terra Plastics President and Owner Jay Chu says after reviewing the company’s state of business, it was clear that it would need a different space to accommodate operations. “It was clear we needed a space that will accommodate our current operations but have the space and capacity to house all our future operations,” Chu says.

Lawrence Bowlin, business manager of East-Terra Plastics, adds that the company is moving as a result of growth. While the company currently occupies a 150,000-square-foot facility in Indianapolis, the company needs additional space to grow operations. The new facility in Connersville is about 300,000 square feet, and Bowlin says that should offer enough with domestic end users for products.” space for growth.

“We’ve been [at the Indianapolis location] for four years, and we’re capped on space,” Bowlin adds. “We’ll be expanding our business quite a bit, doubling capacity next year.” 

In addition, Bowlin says the company is focused on investing in new machinery and smart technology. With the new facility, he says East-Terra Plastics has a proprietary float/sink system being built, with much of the machine’s design being influenced by Chu. 

Although some plastics recyclers are experiencing growth issues due to China’s National Sword policy, Bowlin notes that the company’s owner had planned for that.

“Jay Chu saw this coming,” he says. “He’s been actively preparing for this the last few years. Our goal is to recycle this plastic to bolster infrastructure in the U.S. We are actively having talks domestic end users for products. Also, we’re talking with our current partners and customers about expanding our services to them to help them maintain corporate sustainability as well as to expand their role to recycle, reuse and renew.”