RECYCLING LINES | TECHNOLOGY


Increasing technology development is leading to


important improvements in plastics recycling lines. Chris Saunders reports on new launches


Recycling lines continue to evolve, say developers


With the world’s governments tightening recycling mandates and brand owners constantly demand- ing higher-quality materials, the plastics recycling industry is evolving to meet the challenges. Plastics recycling lines are also evolving, driven by ad- vanced technologies that aim to improve efficiency, purity, and scalability, while simultaneously remaining cost effective and reducing environmen- tal impact. Plastics recyclers are now looking carefully at all components of lines, from sorting of waste streams at the front end, size reduction, washing and decontamination stages through to extrusion of a high-quality product. Riccardo Succi, Area Segment Manager Plastic


at Tomra Recycling, the sorting technology group, said: “The industry’s focus has shifted from simply recovering materials to producing high-quality post-consumer recycled [PCR] content, making upgrading recycling lines with deep learning AI essential. New applications can remove hard-to- sort contaminants like opaque packaging and textiles from PET streams, ensuring the final product meets the rigorous quality standards


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required to replace virgin materials. Investing in these upgrades also directly addresses labour shortages faced by MRFs. By automating more of the sorting process, the line becomes less reliant on manual pickers, allowing facilities to reallocate staff to more valuable, skilled positions. This improves overall efficiency and helps a facility remain competitive in a tight labour market.” Following an investment of around €36m, within the past few months Steinbeis PolyVert has started up a new production line for polyolefin recyclates at the Völkermarkt plant in Austria with a capacity of around 45,000 tonnes/yr. The company says that by using the latest AI-assisted sorting technology, even difficult-to-recognise materials such as multilayer bottles can be reliably allocated. It also uses AI to detect anomalies and optimise processes to keep quality and efficiency at a consistently high level. “Today, recycling no longer just means material utilisation, but intelligent raw material recovery,” said Steinbeis PolyVert Manag- ing Director André Aßmann. “We get the maximum out of the material while maintaining high product


Main image: The goal of all recycling line developers is high-quality production


October 2025 | PLASTICS RECYCLING WORLD 11


IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK


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