The first automated material recycling facility in the UAE, Falz Sorting Plant, is using TOMRA AUTOSORT sorting machines to recycle local industrial, commercial and domestic waste, helping Dubai achieve its environmental strategy of zero waste to landfill by 2030.
The Pfalz sorting plant was established in 2020 by Imda, a leading integrated facility management company in the Middle East. The factory covers an area of more than 45,000 square meters, and the waste treatment capacity can reach 1,200 tons per day. It is the material recovery facility with the highest recycling rate in the UAE.
When talking about the cooperation with TOMRA, Mr. Mahmoud, chief operating officer of Imda, said: “TOMRA has installed a lot of sensor sorting equipment in the Middle East. The technology is very familiar. During the factory design process, we worked closely with TOMRA to plan the current highly automated factory. After the factory is in operation, we have achieved high efficiency, high recovery and purity, and greatly reduced the need for manual separation. Selected needs.”
Shift from Trash to Recycled Materials
The Pfalz sorting plant has two separate sorting lines, one for processing local household waste and the other for processing industrial and commercial waste. After the waste feed is transported to the feed receiving area of the Pfalz plant, it is distributed to the two sorting lines respectively. First, after the feed material is crushed, it will be divided into 3D material, 2D material and waste residue through the pre-sequence pretreatment process; then ferrous and non-ferrous metals will be removed through magnetic separation and eddy current separation; finally, six TOMRA AUTOSORT The sorting machine separates high-value plastics such as PET, HDPE as well as waste paper and cardboard from the remaining incoming material.
This staged process enables the Falz plant to produce high-quality, high-purity materials such as PET, HDPE, aluminium, ferrous metals, cardboard, wood and PE film, which will be baled and sold to recyclers within the UAE, and exported to all over the world.
TOMRA’s AUTOSORT sorting machine is equipped with TOMRA’s patented detection technology and rich sensor modules, which can sort according to characteristics such as material and color, helping Falz to complete the sorting challenge. In Mr. Mahmoud’s view, choosing TOMRA and AUTOSORT is not only for the present, but also for the future. “The flexibility of AUTOSORT technology and the convenience of upgrading allow us to have a future-oriented solution. In addition, TOMRA’s industry experience and professional knowledge have had a profound and positive impact on our business now and even in the future.” Ma Mr Hamoud added.
At present, the Pfalz sorting plant has been able to recycle more than 10 different types of terminal materials, helping the local area reduce nearly 20,000 kilograms of emissions every day. In the future, TOMRA will continue to work hand in hand with Imda to lay a solid foundation for the further realization of the local zero-waste landfill strategy.
