The innovative TOMRA RollPac is also the company’s first backroom solution to be compatible with roller cage load carriers, the preferred logistics format for many supermarkets. This makes it a familiar and convenient system for stores, seamlessly fitting with existing storage room infrastructure. Compacted material in the roller cages can be transported via reverse logistics on trucks travelling back to regional hubs, to streamline pick-ups and reduce transport emissions. In many regions with deposit return legislation for drink container recycling, retailers act as return locations for empty containers.
“Backroom” reverse vending solutions are for sorting, compacting and storing bottles and cans – typically installed in a retailer’s storage room, on the other side of a wall behind a reverse vending machine. By locating part of the system in a backroom, reverse vending has less of a footprint in the front-of-house area, and the retailer gets the most out of their store space.
TOMRA has a history of innovation in reverse vending, developing the first fully-automated reverse vending machine in 1972, and later the first self-programmable RVM, RVM for drink container crates and cans, and 360-degree instant recognition system for RVMs. It also has an extensive offering of digital tools for RVMs and multi-feed RVMs where consumers pour in entire bags of containers instead of inserting them one by one.
TOMRA RollPac stands at 2.6 meters high and has a system footprint 40% smaller than similar TOMRA systems. As such, it is tailored for small to medium stores, and the flexible layout for cabinets enables it to fit most locations. TOMRA RollPac is compatible with existing front-end reverse vending machines such as TOMRA T9, T8 and the upcoming TOMRA R2 (launching later this year), and backroom equipment such as tables, turns and more – limiting the investment required to upgrade to RollPac.
