Plastics recycling plant in Amsterdam to use groundbreaking recycling tech

Plastics recycling plant in Amsterdam to use groundbreaking recycling tech

January 11, 2019 0 By Amanda Giasson

A new plant designed to recycle plastics is to be built at the port of Amsterdam.

Plastic Recycling Amsterdam (PRA) is building a new plastics recycling plant at the Port of Amsterdam. The future plant will reportedly process 17,000 tons of plastics per year to start, and will prepare these plastics to be reused.

The new facility can be expanded on a modular basis.

While it will initially process 17,000 tons of plastics annually, there will be room for more plastics to be processed in the future as the new facility can be expanded on a modular basis.

The development is part of PRAs move to expand its circular plastics hub. Once operational, the plastics recycling plant will first wash incoming plastic waste before shredding it and putting it through a magnetic bath.

The bath uses Magnetic Density Separation (MDS) technology, which can separate the plastics with a purity of 99%, due to different plastics having different weights. Finally, the sorted plastics can then be processed into new, high-quality packaging materials.

The MDS technology is a breakthrough in sustainable plastics recycling.

The PRA claims that the MDS technology, which was originally developed at Delft University of Technology, represents a breakthrough in sustainable plastics recycling. By using this circular process, 90% of carbon dioxide emissions and 75% of costs in the supply chain are reportedly saved compared to traditional plastic recycling methods.

PRA is a collaboration between Umincorp and Milieu Service Nederland. According to Umincorp CEO Jaap Vandehoek, the Port of Amsterdam is the ideal location for Plastic Recycling Amsterdam.

“With its existing large-scale collection of plastics and the growth of the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area in the years ahead, the Port of Amsterdam is the ideal location for establishing PRA,” Vandehoek said, reported Waste Management World.

Vandehoek added that Umincorp is determined to make a difference in plastics recycling with the unique Magnetic Density Separation technology and the recent investment the company received from Ingka Group.

Plastics Recycling - Plastic BottlesIngka is the parent company of IKEA, the world’s largest furniture retailer, and announced last week that it would be investing in Umincorp. This new investment in plastics recycling joins Ingka’s other environmental and sustainability efforts.

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