Mixed waste sorting is essential for Europe to reach plastic recycling targets
Mixed waste contains recyclable plastics that can still be recovered, graded and recycled into valuable new materials. TOMRA’s new whitepaper explains how integrated resource systems can turn this overlooked stream into a circular-economy opportunity.
Even the best separate-collection systems do not capture every recyclable item. Valuable plastics still enter grey and black bins through incorrect sorting, incomplete participation or because a material has no separate collection route. If this mixed waste goes directly to incineration or landfill, those resources and their potential value are lost.
TOMRA’s new whitepaper, An overlooked opportunity: Recovering valuable resources from municipal waste through mixed waste sorting, sets out how mixed waste sorting can recover these materials before final treatment—and how plastic grading and advanced mechanical recycling can transform them into higher-quality feedstock for new products.
A stronger and more independent Europe needs to recover more of the resources already in use. By combining complementary collection and recovery routes, we can keep more valuable materials in the economy and reduce our dependence on virgin resources.”
The European Union has set ambitious targets to recycle 55% of plastics by 2030. 20 of 27 EU member states are tracking towards missing this ambition. At stake is Europe’s long-term resource resilience, and the future of every business reliant on predictable access to recyclable plastic material.
Mixed waste is not the same as residual waste
Mixed waste often contains recyclable plastics, metals, paper and other materials. TOMRA’s whitepaper makes a clear distinction between mixed waste and true residual waste: only after recoverable materials have been removed should the remainder proceed to energy recovery or landfill.
Mixed waste sorting can complement source separation by capturing materials that were missed. In other settings, it can be the main recovery route for selected materials, depending on local infrastructure, collection systems and recovery ambitions.
“Mixed waste sorting is a practical and proven way to close a major material-recovery gap,” says Lars Enge, EVP Recycling at TOMRA. “But capture is only the first step. To create real circular value, recovered plastics must be graded, processed and supplied at the quality and consistency that recyclers and manufacturers require.”
From recovered plastic to higher-value recyclate
The whitepaper highlights the role of centralized plastic grading, which can consolidate plastics from several sorting facilities and separate them into consistent polymer, color and quality fractions. This creates the scale required for advanced sorting technologies and, subsequently, more reliable and consistent feedstock.
Advanced mechanical recycling builds on conventional recycling with tighter sorting, decontamination, washing, flake sorting, deodorization and extrusion. These processes can enable more recovered plastic to be used in demanding, higher-value applications.
Mechanical recycling should remain the preferred option wherever it can achieve the required quality and scale. Chemical recycling has a complementary role for selected fractions that are not well suited to mechanical recycling and where a viable plastic-to-plastic pathway is available.
Building the systems that make circularity work
Technology alone is not enough. The TOMRA whitepaper calls for resource systems that connect recovery, grading, recycling, policy, producer responsibility and end markets from the outset. It identifies five priorities: (1) treat mixed waste as a strategic recovery stream; (2) design for both quantity and quality; (3) plan downstream routes early; (4) make producer responsibility support recovery; and (5) build adaptable, data-driven systems.
The policy framework needs to reward outcomes that keep materials in circulation. Well-designed extended producer responsibility, clear recognition of materials recovered from mixed waste, and reliable downstream markets are all essential to give investors and municipalities the confidence to scale these systems."
TOMRA launched its whitepaper at a side event during Brussels Climate Week’s Industry Day on 14 October.