Extrusion International 2-2026

45 Extrusion International 2/2026 R ecycling PET trays at scale is one of the most demanding chal- lenges in plastics recycling. The combination of complex structures, mixed input streams and strict qual- ity requirements leaves little margin for error – particularly when the objective is to turn post-consumer trays back into new food trays. More than ve million tons of PET packaging enter the European mar- ket annually. While bottle-to-bottle recycling is already well established, PET trays – representing roughly 25% of this volume – remain a vast untapped resource. Scaling tray-to- tray recycling is therefore both a technical challenge and a strategic imperative for advancing circularity in PET packaging. This is precisely where Sulayr Recycling focuses its expertise. Day by day, the company is build- ing a recycling model that is unique in the world and based on real cir- cularity: keeping transparent PET trays in a closed loop and returning them to the market as new, food- grade trays. This transparent-to- transparent, tray-to-tray recycling approach for complex, multilayer thermoformed PET trays is the stra- tegic backbone of Sulayr’s opera- tions, ensuring full traceability and food-grade compliance. Currently serving over 100 cus- tomers across Europe, Sulayr pro- duced more than 50,000 tons of recycled PET in 2025 alone – equiva - lent to a production capacity of over four million trays per day. To maintain this momentum on an industrial scale while meeting increasingly strict market and regu- latory demands, Sulayr recognized the need to further enhance process stability and sorting precision. This led the company to seek a technol- ogy partner capable of supporting its next phase of growth. A challenging input amid rising expectations The material Sulayr processes is primarily sourced from post-con- sumer PET tray streams via Extend- ed Producer Responsibility (EPR) systems. Depending on its origin and the time of year, this input ma- terial varies signi cantly and often includes other PET types, multilayer structures and polymer contami- nants. “As quality requirements evolved, stability became just as critical as pu- rity,” explains Sergio Collado, Chief Technology Of cer at Sulayr. “For tray-to-tray applications, you need a process that delivers consistent re- sults every single day – not just un- der ideal conditions.” A shared responsibility for results To achieve this level of consis- tency, Sulayr engaged TOMRA Recycling as a strategic partner to co-design and optimize the sorting process. TOMRA’s involvement went far beyond equipment selection: they provided expert consultancy on optimal machine positioning and the essential pre-treatment steps required to ensure material reaches the sorting units in peak condition. The objective was to engineer a stable, scalable process architecture rather than simply installing stand- alone machines. “This was far from a standard sup- plier relationship,” says Jesús Espi - nar, Area Sales Manager at TOMRA Recycling. “We collaborated closely with Sulayr to align with their tar- gets, material characteristics and operational constraints. Our shared responsibility was to design a pro- cess that performs reliably and consistently delivers the high qual- ity required by current European regulatory standards, while provid- ing the exibility to adapt as those requirements become even more stringent in the future.” Technology integrated into the process The core of the solution is a dual- track AUTOSORT™ and an INNO - SORT™ FLAKE system, both fully integrated into Sulayr’s industrial con guration. The process chain in - corporates material reception, op- tical sorting at tray level, washing, grinding, ake puri cation and - nal extrusion into tray-grade rPET. At the tray level, the dual-track AUTOSORT™ – a multifunctional sorting allrounder – is critical for managing the high complexity of the input material. Its unique con- guration enables two independent sorting steps within a single unit. In the rst track, PET Clear/Light Blue (CLB) is positively ejected from the mixed stream. In the second track, The result of this integrated setup is consistently high and stable purity levels above 99.8% under real operating conditions, enabling reuse in food-grade applications