TOMRA's Circular Economy Conference: Collaboration to "Close the Loop on Plastics"

MÜHLHEIM-KÄRLICH, Germany, Oct. 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- According to calculations by the World Bank, approximately two-thirds of household waste is still incinerated or landfilled. In its 4^th global conference, industry leaders joined TOMRA, the Norwegian specialist for waste collection and sorting, to continue to set the course for sorting and recycling significantly more plastic from household waste in the future. Along with presentations and discussions, the conference also included a tour of a state-of-the-art plastic waste sorting and recycling demo plant, a joint venture between TOMRA, Borealis and Zimmermann in Lahnstein, Rhineland-Palatinate. Here, conference participants witnessed how post-consumer plastic packaging  is sorted from household waste, thus safeguarding recyclable materials from being lost to incineration. The plant directly processes the plastics into high-quality recyclate of virgin material quality, replacing fossil fuels in primary production and reducing CO2 emissions.

"It's actually quite simple: decades of experience have shown time and again that any pre-sorting of waste determines the recycling result," explained Tove Andersen, the new President and CEO of TOMRA at the two-day "Closing the Loop on Plastic" conference in Frankfurt on October 5 and 6. "Our goal must be to recycle plastic waste in a way that keeps it in circulation for as long as possible. The more straightforward green legislation is, the faster we will be able to keep this material in a closed loop worldwide."

A recent study by London-based think tank Eunomia, commissioned by TOMRA, found that by significantly increasing recycling rates and improving resource management practices, greenhouse gas emissions worldwide could be reduced by 2.76 billion metric tons of CO2 equivalent per year - comparable to more than 600 million cars on the road annually.

In collaboration with partners across the plastics industry, TOMRA has an ambitious plan of enabling collection of as much material for recycling as possible as well as increasing the amount of this material that is recycled in a closed loop. This would be a decisive step towards reducing CO2 emissions and conserving resources. 

Register here to receive the conference summary video.  

Media Contacts: 

Mithu Mohren  
Phone: +49 2630 9150 450  
Email: Mithu.Mohren@tomra.com   

 - Picture is available at AP Images (http://www.apimages.com) -

About TOMRA Circular Economy 

TOMRA was founded on an innovation in 1972 that began with the design, manufacturing and sale of reverse vending machines (RVMs) for automated collection of used beverage containers. Today TOMRA provides technology-led solutions that enable the circular economy with advanced collection and sorting systems that optimize resource recovery and minimize waste in the food, recycling and mining industries and is committed to building a more sustainable future. 

TOMRA has ~100,000 installations in over 80 markets worldwide and had total revenues of ~9.9 billion NOK in 2020. The Group employs ~4,300 globally and is publicly listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (OSE: TOM).  

For further information about TOMRA, please see www.tomra.com