Turkish company Bakcycle Recycling is successfully producing high-quality granules from post-consumer LDPE packaging waste using TOMRA's state-of-the-art sensor-based sorting technologies.

Source: RecyclingProductNews

Founded by Bakioğlu Holding, which boasts over 50 years of experience in Türkiye's packaging industry, Bakcycle Recycling began its operations at the end of 2023. The company manufactures granules as an alternative to original raw materials, sourcing primarily from municipal and packaging waste sorting facilities.

These recycled granules are utilized in the production of flexible packaging. Located in Izmir, the facility incorporates TOMRA's advanced sensor-based sorting machines, which ensure high accuracy and purity in sorting mixed flexible packaging waste, addressing a vital need in the recycling sector.

Despite the rapid growth of the flexible packaging sector, its recovery rates lag behind those of other packaging types like PET or HDPE due to recycling difficulties. We aimed to address this gap, and we have succeeded in establishing Türkiye's first facility, which encompasses processes such as optical sorting, hot washing, extrusion with laser filtering, and odor removal. TOMRA's optical sorting systems enable pre-sorting of unwanted fractions from the input waste and sort waste by material type and colour.

Covering an area of 20,000 square meters, the Bakcycle Recycling facility aims to transform approximately 8,000 tons of domestic LDPE waste into top-quality rLDPE (recycled low-density polyethylene) granules annually, with plans to double this capacity within the next two years.

The high-quality granules produced are provided to flexible packaging manufacturers, assisting them in achieving recycled content targets for non-food applications.

Addressing Challenges in Flexible Packaging Recycling

Flexible packaging, often made up of various layers including polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), poses considerable recycling challenges. Each type of material necessitates separate processing due to its complexity, and many recycling facilities do not have the infrastructure to manage post-consumer LDPE materials. The lightweight nature of flexible packaging further complicates the recycling process, frequently leading to these materials being downcycled into lower-value products.

Achieving Purity Levels Exceeding 98 Percent with Advanced Technology

The facility's processing line features three AUTOSORT SPEEDAIR systems at the beginning, followed by two AUTOSORT units. The first system is designed for film applications, promoting the high-capacity recycling of lightweight flexible packaging, while the latter serves as TOMRA's "multifunctional sorting all-rounder."

During the sorting process, which is based on color and polymer type, the first two AUTOSORT SPEEDAIR systems effectively separate transparent LDPE from other materials. The third machine then distinguishes collected transparent LDPE from transparent LLDPE. Thanks to a consistent airflow, the lightweight LDPE waste materials move swiftly along the conveyor belt. The subsequent AUTOSORT units are responsible for sorting mixed-color and white LDPE. Consequently, Bakcycle Recycling achieves purity levels exceeding 98 percent in its sorting processes.

Through TOMRA Insight, Bakcycle Recycling has converted its optical sorting machines into connected devices. The company employs the TOMRA Insight cloud-based data platform to enhance its sorting processes, improving transparency and data management. This platform enables precise assessment of the quality of processed materials and facilitates detailed, real-time analysis of any material loss during production.