Bottle-to-bottle sorting solutions for new recycling plant in Egypt

The Egypt-based company is one of the leading rPET producers in the MENA region. In its quest to meet the increasing demand for rPET in Africa and Europe, pursue its vision to become one of the most prominent recyclers globally and the biggest in the MEA region, BariQ invests in a state-of-the-art plastic recycling facility. Its industry experience and network of influential partners, combined with the recycler’s capability to produce food-grade rPET provide the necessary foundation to bring recycling in the MEA region to the next level.

Celebration of a new milestone

On 13 February 2022 BariQ welcomed Ministers from the Egyptian Government, ambassadors, brand owners, equipment providers as well as 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/Egypt. The event offered valuable networking opportunities and revealed the new plant’s design to produce more than 35 000 tons of food-grade rPET per annum while saving more than 80 000 tons of CO₂ emissions. The new facility will complement a recycling plant that has been fully operational since 2010 and features 4 of TOMRA’s sensor-based sorting systems that process more than 3 tons of PET bottles per hour. To date, the company produces an annual amount of 15 000 tons of food-grade rPET that is compliant with the standards set by EFSA, FDA, Health Canada and REACH.

Meeting demands with a new facility

Due to the increased demand for rPET from numerous industries, BariQ is scaling up its capabilities and constructing a new plant. Planned to be fully operational in 2023, the new facility will process 3.5 to 4 tons of post-consumer PET waste per hour. As quality demands become more stringent and the amount of post-consumer plastic waste is on the rise, the choice of future-forward sorting technology and reliable partners was crucial and led to BariQ selecting TOMRA. “TOMRA has been a dependable, knowledgeable partner for the past 10 years. Thanks to our close collaboration, their remote and on-site service support, and high-performance machines, we achieve excellent sorting results. While there are more providers in the market to choose from today, we selected TOMRA because they provide us with an overall solution that sorts all polymer types and flakes“, conveys Ahmed Elkasaby, Chief operations officer at BariQ.

The new plant will be equipped with 2 new generation AUTOSORT^® for pre-sorting PET bottles and trays and 2 AUTOSORT^® FLAKE units for additional purification that includes polymer sorting by material and color, and the reliable removal of metal contaminants. Thanks to the combination of the latest technologies in a single machine, AUTOSORT features FLYING BEAM^® and DEEP LAISER® technologies among others to accurately separate PET bottles by material and color in a multi-step sorting process. After the pre-sorted material has been shredded, washed, and dried, the AUTOSORT FLAKE machines create a pure clear/light blue PET flake fraction which is then processed and transformed into pellets. The end product, a predicted 35 000 t/a, will be sold to global brand owners and converters looking for increasing their recycled content with food-grade rPET.

Elie Sandros, Area Sales Manager Middle East and Africa at TOMRA Recycling, comments: “I have been accompanying the project right from the beginning and am delighted that we are part of this exciting project. 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 and MEA markets. “

The strain of mismanaged waste and legislation pushes

The problem of waste piling up in nature is a prevalent issue of global proportions and countries in Africa are no exception to this. Lacking investments and insufficient waste management infrastructure in some regions make it difficult to promote high quality recycling without downgrading plastics. Given the fact that the African population is predicted to double by 2025 and a rapidly growing volume of post-consumer plastic waste, the need to find solutions and set up legislations to enable recycling and mitigate plastic pollution becomes even more urgent.

Despite the challenges, the continent is taking strong action in tackling plastic waste. A complete or partial ban on plastic carrier bags has already been introduced in 30 countries to combat plastic waste blocking waterways and drainage systems. Apart from that, countries like South Africa have recognized the enormous potential of legislation such as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes to finance and advance waste and recycling infrastructure. EPR schemes give brand owners (producers) the responsibility for the adequate and sustainable management of the plastic products they place on the market and therefore help to make sure that plastic waste is properly managed, from design to the end of a product’s lifecycle. Whereas Kenya, Ghana, and Nigeria already have an EPR system in place, South Africa only made it mandatory for plastic packaging importers and manufacturers in 2021. Thus, brand owners, whether they operate locally or globally, are asked to adhere to the regulatory framework and contribute to achieving the goals set. “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. I am delighted that our collaboration which has already started 10 years ago, has led us to make a considerable change in Africa”, concludes Tasos Bereketidis, Regional Director Emerging Markets at TOMRA Recycling.

www.tomra.com/recycling