PreZero opens sorting plant for packaging in Europe

PreZero, a recycling company based in Neckarsulm, Germany, has launched a sorting plant for lightweight packaging in Eitting, Bavaria. The company says up to 120,000 tons of lightweight packaging will be processed for recycling annually.

The plant, with a capital expenditure of about 40 million euros ($45,360,000), will provide 50 jobs. In the future, the plant can be in operation around the clock, 365 days a year.

The company says the technology being used in the sorting process can identify black plastics that are difficult to sort using conventional optical technology. Based on artificial intelligence, the fully automatic sorting plant will surpass the sorting quotas prescribed by law under the Packaging Act adopted in 2019. The Packaging Act expands packaging definitions, extends mandatory deposit for one-way drinks packaging and how companies identify single-use or multiple-use properties for final distributors of beverage containers.

The collected packaging material is sorted into a total of 18 different categories. This includes polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene and polystyrene. The categories also can be sorted by color. 

“With the commissioning of the plant in Eitting, we’re expanding our existing network of high-performance lightweight packaging sorting systems, not just in terms of space, but also in terms of quantity,” says Carsten Dülfer, CEO of PreZero. ”With a total annual capacity of all our plants in Germany of around 600,000 tons, we’re establishing ourselves as part of the absolute frontrunners in this market segment.”