Tomra introduces solutions for circular economy for first time at CIIE

A video on the circular economy is played at the Tomra booth, providing solutions for a circular economy through advanced collection and sorting systems, at the innovation incubation zone of the sixth China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai.

"Tomra Food has participated in the CIIE for five consecutive years. The Tomra Circular Economy Division is participating in the CIIE for the first time, and we are introducing our Holistic Resource Systems at the event," said Jet Chang, vice president of Public Affairs, Tomra Asia.

Photo shows Jet Chang, vice president of Public Affairs, Tomra Asia. (People's Daily Online/Wang Chu)

Tomra is a European company established in Norway in 1972. Its Holistic Resource Systems integrate various mature waste management techniques and models.

"We believe that after household waste is sorted, there are still some recyclable materials in the remaining waste, such as lunch boxes, plastic bags, and paper cups and bowls, which are currently incinerated for energy recovery. We hope to recycle them through sorting technology to form a closed loop," Chang said.

He explained that this reduces consumption of and dependence on primary resources while contributing to reducing carbon emissions.

"The innovation incubation zone of the CIIE attracts companies from home and abroad, especially many new tech companies from Europe and America, and most companies' upstream, downstream partners and related institutions. The CIIE is a great platform for promoting new concepts and services," said Chang.

"This time, we communicated and negotiated with representatives of trade delegations from many Chinese cities. They are very interested in household waste sorting and recycling, large-scale mixed waste automatic sorting centers, and downstream recycled resource processing projects. We will follow up for further cooperation," he added.

Photo shows Tomra Food's 5B optical sorter. (People's Daily Online/Wang Chu)

"China enjoys huge market potential. Tomra, as a medium-sized company, has been operating in China for 13 years. This August, we just moved into our new headquarters," Chang noted.

Thanks to increasing demand in areas such as waste sorting and food safety, Tomra is very optimistic about the potential of the Chinese market, Chang said, believing that there will be enormous opportunities for win-win cooperation in fields including green and low-carbon development and environmental protection.