Tomra signs deal for PET sorting system in Middle East

The Tomra Recycling business unit of Norway-based Tomra Group says it has been selected to supply bottle-to-bottle sorting and recycling to what it calls the largest rPET (recycled-content polyethylene terephthalate) producer in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

Tomra says it will be working with BariQ for Techno and Advanced Industries after signing on to build a new PET bottle-to-bottle recycling plant in Giza Governorate, Egypt, which will feature “the latest plastic sorting systems from Tomra Recycling.”

In mid-February, BariQ welcomed ministers from the Egyptian government, ambassadors, brand owners, equipment providers and local and foreign financial institutes to its expansion ceremony to officially announce and celebrate the construction of a new bottle-to-bottle recycling facility in Giza Governorate.

The event revealed the new plant’s design to produce more than 38,600 tons of food-grade rPET annually, which will have the potential to eliminate some 88,000 tons of CO₂ emissions.

The new facility will complement a sorting plant that has been fully operational since 2010 and features four of Tomra’s sensor-based sorting systems that process more than 3.3 tons of PET bottles per hour. To date, the company produces some 16,500 tons annually of food-grade rPET that is compliant with the standards set by EFSA (European Food Safety Authority), FDA (U.S. Food & Drug Administration), Health Canada and REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemicals), says Tomra.

Planned to be fully operational in 2023, the new facility will process 3.8 to 4.4 tons of post-consumer PET scrap per hour. “Tomra has been a dependable, knowledgeable partner for the past 10 years,” says Ahmed Elkasaby, chief operations officer at BariQ. “Thanks to our close collaboration, their remote and onsite service support and high-performance machines, we achieve excellent sorting results.”

The new plant will be equipped with two Tomra AutoSort machines for presorting PET bottles and trays. Additionally, two AutoSort Flake units will conduct polymer sorting by material and color as well as removing metal contaminants.

After the presorted material has been shredded, washed and dried, AutoSort Flake creates what Tomra calls “a pure clear/light blue PET flake fraction that is then processed and transformed into pellets.” The end product will be sold to global brand owners and converters looking to increase their recycled content with food-grade rPET, adds the firm.

“I have been accompanying the project right from the beginning and am delighted that we are part of this exciting project,” comments Elie Sandros, area sales manager Middle East and Africa at Tomra Recycling. “Seeing the evolution of the country’s waste management and the technical advancements we made in the previous years makes me confident that our collaboration will support plastic manufacturers in meeting their recycled content targets and curb plastic recycling in the MENA market.”

“With BariQ investing in the new facility in Egypt and using the latest sorting equipment, we jointly give brand owners in Africa access to larger quantities of high-quality rPET resin which help them meet the recycled content targets as well as their individual pledges,” says Tasos Bereketidis, regional director-emerging markets at Tomra Recycling. “I am delighted that our collaboration, which started 10 years ago, has led us to make a considerable change in Africa.”