FilmLift - Flexible Plastic Recovery

As material recovery facilities (MRFs) face increasing pressure to meet stricter quality standards, the need for precise, efficient separation of lightweight contaminants—especially film plastics—has never been greater.

To address this challenge, Impact’s FilmLift system offers an innovative solution for the efficient removal of lightweight contaminants, such as film plastics, enhancing material recovery and ensuring compliance with stringent quality standards.

The FilmLift is a highly innovative air-based separation solution engineered to integrate seamlessly with optical sorters, capturing lightweight film materials that are ejected from the main material stream by the sorter’s air jets (see diagram). These films are typically difficult to isolate and often contaminate the paper and fibre streams, significantly lowering their value.

By incorporating the FilmLift system into your MRF, you introduce an additional layer of quality control that enhances the performance of your optical sorters and reduces the risk of downstream contamination. As optical sortation technology becomes more refined and widely adopted, facility owners are increasingly turning to complementary systems like FilmLift to maximise material purity and increase marketability.

Engineering Excellence – How It Works

FilmLift operates by strategically capturing film as it is ejected by the air injection system of the optical sorter. Rather than allowing these light, low-mass contaminants to mix with other rejects like rigid plastics, the FilmLift system uses a high-efficiency conveying air stream to extract and isolate the film material.

Once airborne, the captured material is transferred through a dedicated ducting system to an Impact rotary separator, where it is gently discharged from the airflow. Under the influence of gravity, the separated film falls directly into a designated bunker or storage area, ensuring efficient collection with minimal manual intervention.

Why Choose FilmLift?

• Improves fibre quality – By removing lightweight film contaminants before they mix with other materials, FilmLift significantly enhances the purity of the fibre stream—leading to a higher-quality end product.
• Supports compliance & marketability – Cleaner bales mean better compliance with buyer specifications and industry regulations, giving your facility a competitive edge.
• Integrates with existing optical sorting systems – Designed to complement, not replace, your current infrastructure—FilmLift is a smart retrofit that adds immediate value.
• Reduces labour and downtime – With efficient, automated removal of film waste, your team spends less time manually sorting and cleaning, boosting overall plant throughput.
• Backed by proven air system expertise – With over 35 years’ experience in air conveyance and separation systems, Impact delivers robust, reliable technology you can trust.

Cleaner Recovery Starts Here

If you’re looking to raise the bar on material recovery efficiency and improve your fibre output, the FilmLift is your go-to solution for targeted film extraction.

Call us on 0116 244 8855 or email our technical sales team at sales@impactairsystems.com.

Let Impact help you reclaim more value—one clean fibre stream at a time.