Source One Plastics' recycling technology is designed for maximum precision in the composition of materials. It applies to identify the input materials as well as to the output of customized material flows.
Our sorting and recycling plant in Eicklingen processes used plastic packaging from around 1.3 million households in Germany every year to make it 100% recyclable. Up to 70,000 tons of post-consumer waste are processed into valuable plastic raw materials every year. This makes the plant one of the largest of its kind in Europe. Hot commissioning is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2024.
The construction of an additional line is already planned. Following the successful commissioning, the plant will be expanded immediately, increasing its capacity to a throughput of 80,000 tons of plastic waste in 2024. Both the planning concept and the choice of location for the plant mean that its capacity can continue to grow in the short and medium term.
In conventional recycling processes water is used to clean plastics, fine dust and microplastic particles are flushed out and end up in the environment. To prevent this, we use a dry mechanical processing method that guarantees the elimination of those particles during thermal recycling.
We clean the plastic mechanically through differentiated classification and use upstream near-infrared sorting. Surface contamination and organics are pushed off the source material under high pressure. The resulting micro-particles are collected directly at the emission point in the recycling hall, sucked into a jet bag filter and then used by certified companies to generate heat.
"Supporting a sustainable project with our filter technology recycling hard-to-recycle plastics in a resource-friendly way is a particular pleasure. The green idea drives us all."
In order to optimize the energy-intensive process of plastics recycling, the plant uses dry mechanical processing of the plastic. This innovative method reduces energy consumption by up to 30% compared to conventional recycling processes.
Locally generated renewable energy supplies the plant and the adjoining buildings. It includes an on-site wind farm and a biogas plant. Energy generation is supplemented by the company's own PV system on the roof of the recycling and logistics halls. The roof areas are fully equipped with one thousand solar modules and achieve an output of around 700 kilowatt peak. Air heat pumps help to maintain the temperatures of the buildings.
"Our plant serves as a blue print for how sustainability works today and tomorrow"