Capable of processing 200,000 tons of waste per year, the Site Zero Factory, which is fully automated, can sort 12 different types of plastic compared to just 4 types in conventional facilities.
Site Zero can classify 12 different types of plastic waste. (Source: AFP)
Discarded food bags, tomato sauce bottles and even plastic food containers are being sorted at the high-tech Site Zero waste sorting plant, where Sweden hopes to revolutionize the country’s plastic recycling sector.
Located outside the town of Motala, about 200km southwest of Stockholm, the Site Zero Factory has been in operation since late 2023 and is considered a prime opportunity by plastics industry non-profit organization Swedish Plastic Recycling. The world’s largest and most modern plastic recycling facility.
According to the organization’s CEO Mattias Philipsson, the factory used infrared lights, lasers, cameras and artificial intelligence (AI) to classify plastic waste.
Capable of processing 200,000 tons of waste per year, the fully automated plant can sort 12 different types of plastic compared to just four in conventional facilities. This facility can even classify two types of flexible plastics, PVC and PS, that previously could not be reused in new products.
According to Mr. Philipsson, the goal is for the plastic recycling industry to become part of the circular economy and reduce the use of fossil fuels.
He added that Sweden’s old plastic classification plant can only classify about 50% of plastic packaging and the rest must be burned because it cannot be classified. However, with the new plastic waste classification plant, currently the number of plastic packaging that cannot be classified is less than 5%.
According to the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in 2022, only 35% of plastic waste will be recycled, below the European Union (EU) average of 40%.
The EPA says burning plastic waste used to produce both heat and electricity accounts for about 7% of Sweden’s greenhouse gas emissions.
The use of recycled plastic is still not popular because it is on average 35% more expensive than newly produced plastic.
EPA expert Asa Stenmarck said some plastics classified by Site Zero are still not popular in the recycling market.
She said that to accelerate the widespread use of recycled plastics, it is necessary to put this into law and this is being implemented in the EU with the new Regulation on packaging and packaging waste ( PPWR).