BariQ Opens Plastic Recycling Facility

Plastic Recycling Facility from BariQ BariQ for Techno and Advanced Industries held a signing ceremony in Egypt's Giza region for the construction of a new PET bottle-to-bottle recycling facility equipped with TOMRA Recycling's latest plastic sorting systems. The Egypt-based company stands out as a leading rPET producer in the MENA region. To meet growing rPET demand in Africa and Europe, BariQ, aiming to become one of the world's leading recycling companies and a leader in the MEA region, is investing in a plastic recycling facility with state-of-the-art infrastructure. BariQ's industry experience combined with its network of effective business partners, together with the company's capacity to produce food-grade rPET, provides the foundation needed to take recycling operations in the MEA region to the next level.  

A New Milestone

BariQ has taken a promising step for the sector and marked a new milestone in the company's history. Inviting ministers, ambassadors, brand representatives, equipment suppliers, and local and foreign financial institutions from the Egyptian Government, BariQ officially announced the construction of a new bottle-to-bottle recycling facility in Egypt's Giza region. At this valuable industry event, details were revealed of the new facility's design, which will produce more than 35,000 metric tons of food-grade rPET annually and save more than 80,000 tons of CO₂ emissions. The new facility will be completed through the expansion of the recycling facility that has been operating at full capacity since 2010 and processes more than 3 tons of PET bottles per hour, equipped with 4 TOMRA sensor-based sorting systems. The company currently produces 15,000 tons of food-grade rPET annually in compliance with standards set by EFSA, FDA, Health Canada and REACH.

Meeting Demand with a New Facility

Due to increasing demand for rPET from numerous industries, BariQ is expanding its capabilities and building a new facility. Scheduled to become fully operational in 2023, the new facility will process 3.5-4 metric tons of post-consumer PET waste per hour. As quality requirements become more stringent and post-consumer plastic waste volumes increase, partnerships with forward-looking sorting technology and reliable solution providers become increasingly important. For this reason, BariQ has chosen TOMRA's solutions for its new project as well. Ahmed Elkasaby, BariQ Operations Director, stated: "TOMRA has been a reliable partner with extensive knowledge for us over the past 10 years. Through our close cooperation, remote and on-site service support, and high-performance machines, we achieve excellent sorting results. Although there are more alternatives on the market today, we chose to continue our partnership with TOMRA because it provides us with a comprehensive solution that sorts all polymer types and flakes." The new facility will be equipped with 2 new-generation AUTOSORT® units for pre-sorting of PET bottles and thermoforms, and 2 AUTOSORT® FLAKE units for polymer sorting by material and color and for additional purification to reliably remove metal contaminants. Through combining the latest technologies in a single machine, AUTOSORT, equipped with FLYING BEAM® and DEEP LASER® technologies among other features, sorts PET bottles correctly by material and color in a multi-step sorting process. After passing through pre-sorting, the material is shredded, washed and dried, and then AUTOSORT FLAKE machines produce a pure clear/light blue PET flake fraction. Subsequently, it is processed and converted into granules. The final product, estimated at 35,000 tons annually, will be supplied to global brands and converters looking to increase their recycled content with food-grade rPET. Elie Sandros, TOMRA Recycling Middle East and Africa Region Sales Director, stated: "We have accompanied the project from the beginning and are very pleased to be part of this exciting project. Seeing the country's waste management evolution and the technical progress we have made in previous years gives us confidence that our partnership will support plastic producers in achieving their recycled content targets and will lead plastic recycling in the MENA and MEA markets." Accumulating waste in nature, a widespread global problem, is being addressed with solutions in African countries as well. Investment shortages and inadequate waste management infrastructure in some regions make it difficult to encourage high-quality recycling without compromising plastic quality. Given the fact that Africa's population is expected to double by 2025 and a rapidly increasing volume of post-consumer plastic waste is anticipated, the need to develop solutions and establish regulations to enable recycling and reduce plastic pollution becomes even more urgent. Despite the challenges, the continent is taking strong steps in tackling plastic waste. To combat plastic waste clogging waterways and drainage systems, 30 countries have introduced complete or partial bans on plastic bags. Beyond this, countries such as South Africa have approved significant legislative potential such as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes to finance and develop waste and recycling infrastructure. EPR programs place responsibility on brand owners (producers) for the adequate and sustainable management of the plastic products they place on the market, and thus help ensure proper management of plastic waste from design through the end of the product's life cycle. While EPR systems already exist in Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria, South Africa made it mandatory only in 2021 for plastic packaging importers and producers. For this reason, brand manufacturers operating locally or globally are expected to comply with legislative frameworks and contribute to achieving the targets set. Tasos Bereketidis, TOMRA Recycling Emerging Markets Region Director, commented: "With BariQ's investment in a new facility in Egypt and the use of the latest sorting equipment, we are providing brand owners in Africa not only with the opportunity to fulfill their commitments but also access to larger quantities of high-quality rPET resin that helps them meet their recycled content targets. We are pleased that our partnership, which began 10 years ago, has enabled us to support significant change in Africa."