NRT and Buhler Sortex team up on plastics recycling solution

National Recovery Technologies (NRT; Nashville, TN) is partnering up with Buhler Sortex, a plastics sorting solutions firm (London), to combine their technologies, engineering, customer and support networks.

The joint agreement between NRT and Buhler Sortex expands their efforts in the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) sorting operations in both Europe and North America. It also strengthens their ongoing expansion in the PET and HDPE sorting segment, across Europe and North America. The partnership is set to increase both companies’ positions as leading joint suppliers of combined plastic bottle and flake sorting solutions to the plastics recycling industry, with technologies such as In-Flight Sorting, PET Boost, Label Reduction Kit and Smart-Eject.

The deal will give access to both companies’ range of capabilities, including system design, on-site management, installation and product training, as well as include close collaboration with key members of the technology value chain.

“We’re excited to bring the industry’s first complete offering to market that doesn’t require a plastics recycler to compromise on bottle or flake sorting performance and provides high-quality, local support,” said NRT President Matthias Erdmannsdoerfer. “We look forward to building a strong partnership with Buhler Sortex and our customers across Europe and North America.”

Charith Gunawardena, head of Optical Sorting at Buhler Sortex, adds, “This landmark agreement signifies our confidence in the future growth of recycling. It also strengthens our industry references and reinforces our leading role in optical sorting.”

Global plastics production has increased by 10 million metric tons to about 280 million metric tons in 2011, continuing a growth rate of 9% per annum. Europe and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) region consist of 41% of the world’s total plastic materials production, which has driven demand for integrated bottle and flake sorting solutions, as companies make every effort to meet government recycling targets and corporate social responsibility pledges.

Just this month, PlasticsToday covered the deal where Novolex has purchased Wisconsin Film & Bag (WFB; Shawano, WI), a plastic bag and film manufacturer and recycler. WFB operates a plastics recycling plant and converting facility near its headquarters. It makes custom polyethylene bags and films, as well recycled and sustainable materials.