Bjarke Petersen, Sustainable Business Advisor at Trebo, a Denmark-based company pioneering advanced systems to recycle and sort plastic waste, discusses how their proprietary water-based sorting technology delivers virgin-like purity in recycled plastics. By enabling precise, chemical-free separation of complex material mixtures, Trebo is helping the automotive industry achieve true circularity for high-performance engineered plastics, while navigating challenges in reverse logistics, collaboration with dismantlers, and evolving EU sustainability regulations.
Delivering High-Purity Recyclates Through Precise, Water-Based Plastic Sorting
Trebo’s sorting technology enables exceptionally precise, non-contaminated separation even in complex material mixtures. And the result is recyclates of such high purity and quality that they closely resemble virgin material, making them suitable for demanding, high-performance applications. So, the short answer is that it’s in our ability to handle complexity and deliver virgin-like purities.
That positions Trebo with a unique offering to the automotive recycling industry: enabling true circularity for high-quality, engineered plastics used in the automotive sector.
It is a mechanical sorting technology that utilizes water as the medium for separating materials. The plastic mixture is moved vertically through a liquid, allowing for each particle to settle between movements. By creating a pattern that perfectly fits the particular application scenario.
It is ideal for a wide variety of material mixtures as the technology exploits differences in the fluid-dynamic properties of each plastic type. The unique technology enables us to sort material (waste) streams to extremely high purities, without damaging the characteristics of the materials, and without the use of harmful chemicals.
We are thus capable of reaching specific purity requirements time after time and can offer a consistent and dependable material stream of recyclates, which our clients often can reapply directly into their production.
Our sorting service solves challenges for various industries, such as medical, electronics, and automotive, primarily handling post-production and post-consumer plastic waste gathered via take-back schemes.
Overcoming Reverse Logistics Challenges Through Strategic Partnerships in Automotive Recycling
We see the reverse logistics in relation to materials from ELVs as a challenging area. In part because the automotive recycling and application of recyclates is still under development, and in part because the majority of the ELVs available today have not been designed with material recovery in mind. We see that the way to establish a successful reverse logistics setup here can be achieved via partnering to cover the needed value chain.
Collaborating with Dismantlers to Build Strong, High-Quality Recycling Value Chains
Dismantlers are one of the key stakeholders in our value chain, as they have knowledge and access to ELVs. Starting with a locally based partner, we have been able to establish a very constructive project, utilizing the unique knowledge and skills of the dismantler to allow the material stream to take form.
Balancing Sustainability and Profitability Through Practical, Scalable Recycling Solutions
Trebo is a company that delivers recyclates and supports the shift to a more sustainable material application across the sectors we operate. The pilot projects that we are engaged in need to strike a balance between material recovery and commercial viability, and this is not always the case. Sometimes, we encounter specific complications in material availability or composition, and sometimes we need to set aside a pilot case, even though we have overcome these complications, because it is not commercially viable. When we say parked, it is because we are hoping for a surge in the secondary market, also fueled by incentives from the EU, which hopefully can improve the commercial viability of the cases.
Advancing Sorting Technology to Enable High-Quality Recycling of Complex ELV Plastics
As mentioned, the fact that Trebo’s sorting technology can provide consistent quality with high purities removes a key (quality) barrier that companies have traditionally had when considering the use of recyclates. We experience this as a key advancement, and our offering has already achieved a strong track record.
If we look at the longer perspective, automotive producers are also increasing their focus on material compositions and the design for dismantling, to an extent that hopefully will enable future ELVs to be recycled far more than current ELVs.
Building Strong Partnerships as the Key to a Circular Automotive Future
Some of our best and most robust value chain setups for automotive recyclates have been made possible because of partnerships. In our view, very few (if any) companies have the full palette of knowledge and expertise required to solve the reverse logistics by themselves, and therefore we see the focus and competencies for key stakeholders ideally could shift to finding partners, building value chains and maintaining mutually beneficial partnerships. In other words, the recycling challenge at hand requires the stakeholders to reach beyond their core competency enough to secure a link with the next stakeholder in the value chain. This activity may require some different skills and mindset from otherwise highly dedicated stakeholder groups such as dismantlers.
To find out more, please visit www.trebo.dk
