Shortly after Easter, EEW Energy from Waste GmbH (EEW) initiated the hot commissioning of its first pre-sorting facility for mixed waste at its Delfzijl site (Netherlands). The facility is a pilot project for the entire EEW Group and represents a further step in advancing waste treatment.
Focus on plastic separation
The aim of the facility is to separate plastics from the waste stream prior to thermal treatment. This reduces the share of fossil-based components in the waste while simultaneously opening up additional material streams for mechanical and chemical recycling.
“With our first pre-sorting facility, we are once again expanding our activities along the value chain – for a stronger circular economy,” says Timo Poppe, CEO of EEW. “Together with our pilot plant for CO₂ capture and the pilot plant for NOx recycling, Delfzijl exemplifies how we are consistently rethinking processes before and after thermal treatment in line with climate and resource protection.”
Pilot project with group-wide relevance
The facility in Delfzijl is the first of its kind within the EEW Group and serves as a reference project. The goal is to gain experience with the technology and evaluate its potential for possible implementation at additional sites.
The Delfzijl site offers suitable conditions to test and further develop new approaches under real operating conditions.
“The pre-sorting facility is an important step for us in testing new technological approaches on an industrial scale,” explains Wilfred de Jaeger, Managing Director of the Delfzijl site. “It provides the foundation to further improve material recovery and to continue developing our processes in a targeted manner.”
Modern sorting technology in use
Technically, the facility is based on a combination of mechanical processing and sensor-based sorting, in particular using near-infrared technology to identify and separate plastics. This enables different plastic fractions to be efficiently separated from the waste stream and prepared for downstream recycling processes.
Contribution to advancing the circular economy
Pre-sorting can help improve the emissions balance of waste treatment and unlock additional recycling potential. At the same time, the project demonstrates that the implementation of such approaches depends on appropriate economic and regulatory frameworks.
These include, in particular, functioning markets for the recovered plastic fractions as well as incentives for the use of recycled raw materials, for example within the framework of potential future recycled content quotas. The site in the Netherlands currently offers favorable conditions in this regard.
With the plastic sorting facility in Delfzijl, EEW is expanding its activities along the value chain and gaining valuable insights for the further development and potential scaling of the technology within the Group.