From February 28 to March 2, Tomra welcomed industry partners, customers and media representatives to celebrate the opening of a second test center at its headquarters in Mülheim-Kärlich, Germany. The event took place within the framework of the company’s Integrator’s Conference. More than 200 participants from 26 countries joined the two-day event and enjoyed a diverse conference and event program. On the first conference day, participants listened to numerous presentations detailing the company’s strategic direction, including one held by Tomra CEO, Tove Andersen. The second day focused on the extension of the test facilities that marked another milestone in Tomra Recycling Sorting’s long-term goals.
Ribbon cut. F.l.t.r. Volker Rehrmann (EVP and Head of TOMRA Recycling), Fabrizio Radice (VP and Head of Global Sales and Marketing), Tove Andersen (CEO), Tom Eng (SVP and Head of TOMRA Recycling Sorting), André Lehmann (Test Center Manager)
“With more stringent legislation and higher recycling targets, the demand to recover recyclables from waste is at a record high and so is the demand for our sorting solutions and material tests. We’ve observed this situation over the last few years and came close to our test capacity limits in Germany. We had to act to ensure the best service for customers and partners”, states Fabrizio Radice, VP and Head of Global Sales and Marketing at Tomra Recycling Sorting.
Previously, Tomra’s test center incorporated both its waste and metal sorting solutions and is one of 8 facilities operated at 7 locations worldwide that give recyclers and plant operators the unique opportunity to test their materials on Tomra’s advanced sorting machines before making an investment. “Apart from the increasing demand for tests, we are continuously developing new sorting systems that are all installed in our test center. In the last few years, we have introduced multiple new products into the market and will roll out more in the future. Thus, we needed to make sure that we have sufficient space for our growing portfolio and decided to invest in an additional building”, adds Radice. Tomra itself will use the extra space for the development of innovations that can be extensively tested and optimized by specialized teams on-site. The company conducts approximately 650 customer and internal trials each year and anticipates the demand to grow in the future.
New test facility (right).
The decision to extend capacities entailed another important change. Ralph Uepping, VP, Head of Technology at Tomra Recycling Sorting explains: “Until recently, we’ve combined both metal and waste sorting machines in one area. Now, each test hall will be dedicated to one segment only. While waste sorting trials are done in the first established facility, the focus of the new facility is on metal sorting.” Tomra’s new X-Tract, Finder, and Combisense, as well as a soon-to-be release machine for advanced aluminum sorting, have been installed in the new facility measuring 1.000 m2.
