04/10/21 - Business in Brief

TOMRA opens new flake sorting Test Centre in Italy

TOMRA officially opened a new flake sorting Test Centre last week (22 September) in Parma, Italy, where the company will develop new methods of polyolefin (PO) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) sorting.

The materials are processed by flake sorting machines, with TOMRA recommending the most suitable machine, process, and sensor configuration for each customer’s sorting requirements.

The facility houses two flake sorting units: the AUTOSORT® FLAKE and the INNOSORT FLAKE, both of which are used for the recovery of plastic flakes as small as 2mm.

AUTOSORT® FLAKE functions in high-end applications where the level of contaminants is rather low, but the quality requirements are particularly high. INNOSORT FLAKE is applied for more contaminated streams and is available with a PO-specific sensor to sort polyolefins.

Fabrizio Radice, VP and Head of Global Sales and Marketing at TOMRA Recycling, commented: “We have witnessed increasing demand for flake sorting tests and a strong market push for high-quality recycled plastics.”

“This requires the purest material fractions across all plastics applications, and the respective technologies and solutions need to be identified, developed and optimised. This will happen in our new facility, while closely collaborating with our customers and partners.”

Alberto Piovesan, Segment Manager Plastics EMEA & Americas, said: “In just 18 months, we have established a facility where new ideas and innovations will be developed to best respond to current market trends. More importantly, we are working on solutions that are indispensable for any sorting and recycling plant aiming to successfully upgrade plastics.”

Pret partners with Too Good To Go to reduce levels of food waste

Pret A Manger has announced a joint partnership with Too Good To Go in an effort to tackle food waste.

Following a successful trial across 30 shops, the partnership means that every Pret shop that sells hot food is now live on the Too Good To Go app, which allows users to purchase surplus food and drink from restaurants, grocery stores, pubs, cafes and producers.

All ‘Magic Bags’ purchased through the app will be entirely made up of unsold hot food items. To date over 19,700 Magic Bags of food have been rescued by Pret consumers. The ambition is that the extended partnership will result in 1055 tonnes of CO2e being saved each year.

Paschalis Loucaides, UK Managing Director at Too Good To Go, commented: “I’m thrilled to have rolled out our partnership with Pret. Pret has a long-standing reputation for doing the right thing and already does a fantastic job at making sure their unsold fresh food is redistributed through The Pret Foundation at the end of each day.

“However, hot food poses more of a challenge and this is where we are able to help. Our nationwide community of Waste Warriors are ready and waiting to snap up the Pret Magic Bags on our app to ensure that this hot food is eaten and enjoyed instead of wasted. Reducing food waste is the number one solution to tackling climate change and together with Pret we can take even bigger strides to ensure food is not wasted and protect the future of our planet.”

Enva Wood Appoints New Managing Director

Enva Wood Recycling has announced the appointment of Tim Price as the company’s new Managing Director.

Price currently acts as the Asset and Engineering Director for Manchester Airports Group (MAG). He previously worked for over eight years at Dalkia and Veolia Energy UK as Operations Director, before moving to manage partnerships with Diageo Cameron Bridge Renewable Energy Facility and Leeds Recycling and Energy Recovery Facility (RERF).

Tim joins in advance of the departure of Geoff Hadfield, Vicki Hughes and Paul Harrison, who have led the company since it was acquired by Enva in December 2018 – they will continue to work together within their established investment business. In addition, Vicki will remain a Trustee with the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM) and will continue on the Board of the Wood Recyclers Association (WRA) as Technical Lead.

Tom Walsh, Enva CEO commented: “Since it was acquired, Wood Recycling has been a successful addition to the Enva portfolio. Over the past two years, as part of a transition plan, Geoff, Vicki and Paul have been actively handing over responsibilities within the business to their senior management team, so we are now in a position where there is a strong team to support Tim in his new role as Managing Director. As part of this transition Geoff, Vicki and Paul will support Tim over the next few months as he builds his understanding of Enva Wood Recycling and how we operate.

“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Geoff, Vicki, and Paul for all their hard work over the last three years in leading the business and welcome Tim to this key role within Enva, as we look forward to developing our wood recycling business further.”