The contract will see TOMRA’s sensor-based sorting technology increase the purity and consequently add value to CONSENT FZCO’s final flake product.
CONSENT FZCO was established in 1975 and is a leading manufacturer of superior quality polyester straps and PET flakes. The company boasts the largest PET flake production capacity in the Middle East and supplies customers worldwide from its 250,000 sq ft facility in Jebel Ali, Dubai.
CONSENT’s 3tph mixed bottle washing plant encompasses pre-sorting, washing, drying and flaking processes. CONSENT initially installed an AUTOSORT unit at the plant then, six months later, installed an AUTOSORT FLAKE at the final stage to polish PET flakes, which are used for a number of end applications in the reprocessing markets. Infeed PET bale material for the plant is largely bought in from UAE sources.
Best constant and high quality output Alan Sakr, General Manager at CONSENT’s Jebel Ali plant, comments: “All our plants are fully automated and utilise the latest industry technology available. TOMRA has a strong presence and excellent reputation in the UEA and in the GCC so we were keen to work with them on this project. Having seen at first hand the quality of material delivered using an AUTOSORT, we didn’t hesitate to invest in an AUTOSORT FLAKE as a valuable addition to our plant. We knew this would deliver the best constant and high quality output, while also reducing downtime, energy consumption and operating costs.”
The AUTOSORT FLAKE combines a visible range spectrometer (VIS) to detect colour contaminants, a near infrared (NIR) spectrometer to detect different polymer types such as PET, HDPE, PP, PVC, PA,PS, PLA etc, and a metal sensor to detect ferrous and non-ferrous particles. Flakes as small as 2mm can be identified and sorted, contamination is eliminated and a consistent yield of super-clean recycled PET can be delivered at unparalleled purity levels.
Tasos Bereketidis, Regional Director Middle East & Africa at TOMRA Sorting Recycling, adds: “Developments in automated sorting technology are making it possible to achieve exceptional purity results in plastics recycling. With the right combination of automated sorting technology, it’s possible to achieve previously unfeasible purity levels of over 99 per cent. This latest contract with CONSENT demonstrates the benefits that sensor-based sorting can offer in plastics recycling applications.”