Introducing Områ: Norway's new national plastic sorting facility
New name for the plant is revealed as it begins its commissioning process
After a two-year building process, the new Områ plastic sorting facility in Norway (jointly owned by TOMRA Feedstock, a business unit within TOMRA focused on creating plastic feedstock by sourcing and sorting plastic material from the waste streams that would otherwise not be recycled, and Plastretur, the Norwegian non-profit organization responsible for the collection and recycling of plastic packaging in Norway), is now approaching an important milestone. Beginning on April 28, the warm commissioning process at the facility will get underway with the first bale of plastic waste being put on the conveyor belt.
Områ (pronounced “ohm-rauw”) is a Norwegian word which means to rethink or reconsider, as well as being a combination of two other words – “om” and “rå” (“om” principally means about or around, and “rå” which is used in much the same way as the English word raw).
According to Joachim N. Amland, Senior Vice President and Head of TOMRA Feedstock: “We are pleased with the name we have chosen – Områ evokes some important associations that we think make it an excellent choice for Norway’s first national facility designed to capture all types of plastic from the waste stream and give it a new life as a raw material for new plastic products.”
“Sorting is essential to increase the degree to which plastic can be recycled. By sorting plastic into the purest monofractions, it can then be recycled and used again. In this new national facility we are using TOMRA’s most advanced sensor technology and machine learning capabilities to be able to deliver the quality of raw material that recyclers need. TOMRA Feedstock looks forward to optimizing the plant throughout the summer during the ramp-up period, and we encourage all municipalities in Norway to channel as much of their plastic waste as possible to Områ,” continues Amland.
The Områ plastic sorting facility will enable Norway to fulfill its national ambition to take care of its own plastic waste. It will be an important part of the new national infrastructure for the collection and recycling of plastic, and provide motivation for further investments within the recycling industry nationally. Områ is equipped with state-of-the-art TOMRA sorting technology and solutions at a scale not previously deployed in Norway.
TOMRA Feedstock and Plastretur engaged the Oslo-based design studio firm Cretalux to assist with the development of the facility name and visual identity. “The task we were given by TOMRA and Plastretur was to find a unique Norwegian name that could also evoke the important work and concept behind the facility, namely to think about resources in a new way. We thought that the central meaning of “Områ,” to think anew, also encapsulated the main goal of the facility. The fact that the name includes the Norwegian letter “å” also offered an additional trigger to emphasize circularity,” says Line Støtvig, General Manager of Cretalux.
The next steps for Områ
The plant commissioning process, which started with “cold” commissioning where the sorting machinery was tested without any material for the past two months, will now begin the “warm” commissioning where the sorting of plastic will commence on April 28. The warm commissioning will then continue through the summer with a gradual ramp up in the amount of material accepted at the facility, before the plastic feedstock plant is officially opened in a ceremony taking place on November 5, 2025. The grand opening of Områ will be a major event on the circular economy calendar this year, and everyone interested in cutting-edge circular solutions should be looking for an invite in their inbox very soon.
We encourage you to learn more about this unique facility designed to keep plastic in a circular loop at www.omraa.no.
About TOMRA Feedstock
TOMRA Feedstock is part of TOMRA Horizon, the venture arm set up by TOMRA Group to explore new adjacent business opportunities and alternative business models leveraging the TOMRA Group’s technology and decades of know-how. The focus of TOMRA Feedstock is to provide a new approach toward closing the circularity gap for plastics by recovering mixed plastics being lost today to incineration or landfill. By sourcing and sorting plastic material from the residual waste stream, TOMRA Feedstock provides a complementary service for recyclers, providing plastic feedstock of pure monofractions that can be further processed and sold to plastic packaging producers.