Cirrec BV, part of the Faerch Group and located in Duiven, the Netherlands, has implemented an advanced flake sorting solution from Tomra Recycling to upgrade its post-consumer PET tray recycling operations. As Faerch's dedicated recycling division, Cirrec focuses on circular solutions for plastics with the stated objective of transforming post-consumer PET packaging into new food-grade trays of comparable quality. The Duiven plant processes post-consumer PET food packaging and now incorporates several new Tomra flake sorting units installed in 2024, which have significantly increased both capacity and output quality.
Cirrec operates as a key element of the Faerch Group’s integrated value chain, aiming to reduce plastic waste and support circular packaging systems. The recent investment in Tomra technology was driven by several market factors, including the growing difficulty of securing sufficient high-quality PET feedstock in Europe, the recyclability limitations of multi-layer clear materials in the tray stream and tightening regulatory requirements for higher recycled content combined with simpler, more recyclable tray designs.
The Duiven site previously ran two tray recycling lines. One of the existing lines has been retained and significantly upgraded, while the second line was removed in 2023 to make space for a new tray line commissioned in 2024. A central technical challenge was to separate mixed-colour and natural PET content at flake level from highly contaminated post-consumer input, to achieve the high purity required for food-grade tray production.
Cirrec (Faerch Group) operates a state-of-the-art recycling facility in Duiven, the Netherlands, for advanced tray-to-tray recycling.
Specific challenges of post-consumer PET tray recycling
Recycling post-consumer PET trays presents distinct challenges compared with PET bottle recycling. The input stream at Cirrec consists of post-consumer PET waste from pots, tubs and trays. In contrast to relatively clean PET bottle bales, bales of used trays typically contain higher and more variable levels of contamination, including residual food, other plastics and diverse foreign materials. Once this material is shredded into flakes, achieving high purity becomes considerably more demanding.
These characteristics require robust and selective separation technologies capable of maintaining food-contact quality despite heterogeneous and contaminated feedstock. Cirrec’s aim was to produce clear and coloured PET tray flakes that meet internal specifications for food-grade applications within the Faerch Group.
Tomra’s flake sorting technology in the new tray line
To meet its process and quality targets, Cirrec partnered with Tomra Recycling and integrated multiple advanced Tomra flake sorting machines, including Innosort Flake and Autosort Flake units. Innosort Flake is designed for sorting diverse plastic flakes by polymer and colour, including transparent and opaque materials, and can handle highly contaminated input streams. Autosort Flake is configured as a higher-performance solution for applications requiring elevated purity levels.
The Autosort Flake system enables the removal of metals and foreign polymers, such as PVC and PC, as well as other contaminants including wood, silicone and rubber. These capabilities are central to Cirrec’s multi-stage process, which includes pre-sorting, washing, drying and subsequent flake sorting to obtain separate streams of clear and coloured PET tray flakes with consistent food-grade quality.
Beyond supplying equipment, Tomra provided on-site support during project implementation, including integration assistance and process optimisation to ensure that the new systems matched Cirrec’s throughput and quality requirements.
Cirrec (Faerch Group) invested in a new line featuring TOMRA Recycling’s INNOSORT™ FLAKE and AUTOSORT™ FLAKE.
Higher purity and increased processing capacity
Following the installation of the new Tomra units, Cirrec reports a marked reduction in contaminants in the final PET flake streams. The plant now consistently produces PET flakes at food-grade quality, which is essential because the output is intended for internal use in manufacturing new food packaging within the Faerch Group.
The new tray line, equipped with Tomra’s sorting technology, has doubled the capacity of the previous line while improving output quality. In combination with the upgraded existing line, the Duiven facility now has a total processing capacity of 60,000 tons per year of post-consumer PET food trays.
The sorted PET clear and coloured tray flakes are used internally by Cirrec to produce pellets for the production of new trays within the Faerch Group, with recycled content levels of up to 70 percent. At present, this material is dedicated to internal applications, but the parties indicate that the concept could be replicated at other locations in Europe, expanding the tray-to-tray recycling model.
The sorted PET clear and color flakes are used by Cirrec to produce pellets for the manufacture of new food-grade trays.
Collaboration focused on circular food packaging
Project stakeholders frame the cooperation as an example of how dedicated tray-to-tray recycling can support circularity in food packaging. Simone Tirelli, Project Manager of the Recycling Division at Faerch and Cirrec, states: "We chose Tomra’s solutions for their strong performance, reliable service and ease of management. Beyond just supplying the technology, Tomra’s on-field support and problem-solving approach proved invaluable throughout the project. This collaboration has clearly demonstrated that high-quality, post-consumer tray-to-tray recycling is possible and happening now at scale."
Riccardo Succi, Tomra’s Segment Manager Plastic for Europe, highlights the importance of maintaining separate recycling loops for different PET applications: "With our extensive industry knowledge, we were able to support Cirrec in this groundbreaking collaboration by sorting and purifying even difficult streams. Cirrec is now creating new feedstock while preventing the downcycling of bottles into trays which is exactly the approach needed to truly future proof our industry. These distinct recycling streams must be maintained to ensure that bottles remain in their dedicated loop and that trays are consistently recycled back into new trays.
"This pioneering project is setting a new industry standard, truly changing how PET food trays are recycled and speeding up the move towards a fully circular economy for food packaging. It’s also a strong example of how cutting-edge technology can support plant owners in discovering new business opportunities – whatever the market conditions."
The Cirrec–Tomra project illustrates how advanced flake sorting systems can be applied to complex post-consumer tray streams to generate food-grade recyclate at industrial scale, reinforcing the role of PET tray-to-tray recycling in emerging circular packaging value chains.
