PreZero right on schedule in Belgium
Punctual opening of the sorting facility for lightweight packaging in Evergem
- Following a construction period of just over one year and right on schedule, PreZero Recycling Belgium has begun operations at its sorting plant for light packaging in Evergem, Belgium. Every year, the fully automated plant will separate around 80,000 tons of material collected in the capital, Brussels, and in the Flanders region. The separation procedures combine the latest available technology and ensure that the facility will continue to meet the stringent sorting quotas demanded by the Belgium government. PreZero has invested a total of 46 million euros in the site, creating around 100 crisis-proof jobs.
The core elements of the facility – in addition to mechanical sorting components such as wind sifters, overbelt magnets or ballistic separators – are a total of 26 NIR devices that sort the lightweight packaging into 14 fractions, including the plastics polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene and PET. During subsequent sorting of the material, special robots also ensure that drinks cartons, PET trays and HDPE packagings are separated.
Happy faces at the commissioning of the new PreZero LVP sorting plant in Evergem, Belgium (from left): Stephan Garvs, Managing Director Board of PreZero Germany, Christian Kampmann, Head of PreZero Recycling Germany, Patrick Laevers, CEO Fost Plus, Mik Van Gaever, COO Fost Plus, and Claudy Lejeune, Managing Director PreZero Recycling Belgium.
Happy faces at the opening of the new PreZero sorting plant for light packaging in Evergem, Belgium (from left): Christian Kampmann, Head of PreZero Recycling Germany, Claudy Lejeune, Managing Director PreZero Recycling Belgium, Patrick Laevers, CEO Fost Plus, Mik Van Gaever, COO Fost Plus, and Stephan Garvs, Managing Director PreZero Germany.Stephan Garvs, Managing Director PreZero Germany, is delighted with the punctual opening of the facility in Belgium: “The start of operations at the sorting facility for lightweight packaging in Evergem also strengthens our network of high-performance plants on a European level. Against the background of the EU Commission Action Plan with minimum quotas for the use of recycled materials, it means we are ideally positioned to face the future challenges of a sustainable circular economy.”
In this context, Claudy Lejeune, Managing Director PreZero Recycling Belgium, emphasizes the first-class technical equipment of the facility in Evergem: “The sorted fractions are of a quality, which the processing industry has been demanding for some time, for use in production cycles. I am confident that we can make a significant contribution to the acceptance of secondary raw materials.”
In the view of Christian Kampmann, Head of PreZero Recycling Germany, the new facility in Evergem also plays an important role within the overall strategy of PreZero: “The start of operations is a further important step on our way to becoming a company that implements the conservation of finite resources along the entire value creation chain. At this point, I would like to extend my thanks to all those who helped to ensure that the construction of the facility was completed to schedule in these very unusual circumstances.”
Mik Van Gaever, COO of Fost Plus: “The introduction of the extended recycling bag gave rise to a demand for additional capacity and new technology for sorting the various material flows. After all, effective recycling begins with precise sorting by material type. The PreZero sorting facility uses state-of-the-art technology, enabling us to offer high-quality material for the European recycling market.”
Patrick Laevers, CEO of Fost Plus, adds: “Our aim is to create a circular economy for household packagings. Sorting on the monomer level maximizes our efforts in recycling applications. In this way, materials are retained within the chain as far and as long as possible as secondary raw materials for new products or packagings. The opening of the new PreZero sorting center is an important step toward achieving that aim.”
More information about PreZero can be found at the Press portal. More information about Fost Plus can be found here www.fostplus.be.