Tomra Recycling adds to Americas sales team. Combined, Chase Bullock and Joel Andujo bring decades of industry experience to their new roles. Published October 16, 2026 Tomra Recycling, the sorting technology business unit of Norway-based Tomra Group, has added Chase Bullock and Joel Andujo to its Americas field sales team. Bullock will serve as the area sales manager for the southeast, while Andujo will cover the west sales region. The company says the new additions will allow it to bring deep applications experience and resources to support the recycling community and evolving market needs. "Both Chase and Joel bring valuable industry and commercial experience to the organization," says Michelle Landon, senior vice president and head of Americas for Charlotte, North Carolina-based Tomra Recycling. "On the heels of opening our North American Test and Training Center, strengthening our commercial team across the Americas reflects our continued investment to being closer to the recycling community we serve." Bullock brings 12 years of sales and procurement experience, having worked for what Tomra describes as "North America's largest waste solutions provider." The company says he began his career in local sales for that company's waste and recycling services division in the Atlanta area before being promoted to managing material recovery for the southeast region. He served as the go-to person for customers with recycling questions and worked with companies to analyze waste inflow.

TOMRA showcases 5S Blueberry sorter and LUCAi technology at Fruit Attraction 2026. Wednesday 07 October 2026 The system focuses on gentler fruit handling, more precise defect detection and greater grading consistency in packhouses. TOMRA Food is presenting its new TOMRA 5S Blueberry optical sorting system at Fruit Attraction 2026 in Madrid, alongside live demonstrations of its LUCAi deep-learning technology. The new grader is designed to give blueberry growers and packers greater control over fruit quality throughout the sorting process. TOMRA is also showing how LUCAi can be used across several fruit categories, including apples, blueberries, cherries, citrus, kiwifruit and stone fruit. Gentler blueberry handling. The TOMRA 5S Blueberry combines the company's Spectrim grading platform with LUCAi technology. The system has been developed to handle blueberries more gently from intake to discharge. Transfer points, contact surfaces and drop heights have been adjusted to reduce pressure and impacts on the fruit. This is intended to help protect the blueberry's natural bloom, appearance and overall condition during grading and packing. The technology also provides dehydration detection and consistent quality assessment while helping packhouses maintain throughput. Troy Cleaver, Senior Product Manager at TOMRA Food, said the new system was developed around three main priorities for the blueberry sector: protecting fruit quality, improving grading accuracy and giving operators greater control over the process. Deep learning for defect detection. LUCAi uses deep-learning models trained on large numbers of images showing real fruit defects collected across different seasons, growing regions and product categories. This allows the technology to identify defects that can be difficult to detect with conventional sorting methods. TOMRA says the system can also help packhouses maintain more consistent grading when experienced sorting staff are limited or employee turnover is high. With Spectrim, LUCAi can be used for apples, citrus, kiwifruit, stone fruit and blueberries. The technology is designed to identify subtle defects while supporting tighter quality control and reducing unnecessary product loss. For cherries, TOMRA offers LUCAi through its InVision2 inspection system, with a focus on more consistent quality assessment and packhouse performance. More information for operators. LUCAi does more than separate acceptable and defective fruit. The system can classify defects and provide information about confidence and severity. This gives operators more detail when deciding how fruit should be graded and directed to different markets or product categories. Christian Tougaard, Regional Sales Director for EMEA at TOMRA Food, said feedback from customers has highlighted the additional control LUCAi gives operators. He added that expanding the technology across blueberries, cherries, apples, citrus, stone fruit and kiwifruit represents an important move beyond more traditional fruit-mapping systems. Live demonstrations in madrid. During Fruit Attraction, TOMRA is running live demonstrations so visitors can see how LUCAi works under conditions closer to those found in commercial packhouses. The company is also presenting other solutions aimed at helping growers and packers reduce dependence on manual sorting, improve quality control, limit waste and increase the proportion of fruit that can be packed into higher-value grades.

Intility Arena goes circular with full-scale stadium system for reusable cups. Following an initial pilot last season, Vålerenga football club in Oslo has since May expanded its TOMRA Reuse reusable cup system to the full Intility Arena stadium. 23 Sep 2026 All kiosks located within the main tribunes of the stadium are now serving cold drinks in reusable cups that can be returned by fans at any one of the 13 automated "Throw&Go" collection points strategically placed near exists and kiosks. "Intility Arena is the home of one of Oslo's major football clubs and a landmark arena. We're very proud to partner with the club and demonstrate the scalability and efficiency of our Throw&Go solution," says Louise Petri, segment lead for Throw&Go at TOMRA Reuse. "We are delighted to see how positively this solution has been received by our supporters. As Sustainability lead, I believe that football clubs have a unique opportunity to contribute to the green transition by adopting smarter and more responsible solutions. This initiative demonstrates how innovation can enhance stadium security and the fan experience while helping us reduce our environmental footprint and move towards a more sustainable future for sport," says Thomas Kolstad, Sustainability Lead, Vålerenga Fotball AS. From left: Jonas Olsson, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners; Henning Storhaug, TOMRA Reuse; Baard Tveito, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Ronnie Bergheim, Vålerenga Football Elite; Louise Petri, TOMRA Reuse; and Thomas Kolstad, Vålerenga Football Club. Super easy for the kiosk staff and the guests. The system, based on reusable cups with RFID, runs seamlessly behind scenes: * Guests order and pay for their drinks in the kiosks * Upon purchase a cup deposit of 10 NOK is activated when placing the cup on a TOMRA Reuse bar plate and thereby linked to the guests' payment card * After enjoying their drink fans simply throw their empty cup into one of the collection points. When inserted into the machine, the cup is identified and the deposit value is automatically refunded to the associated bank card. Cups can also be returned in stacks, and the deposit on each cup in the stack will be refunded to the respective bank cards associated with each cup. "At Intility Arena Tomra Group has demonstrated that sustainability and stadium safety do not need to be conflicting priorities. Through careful planning, clear operational procedures and extensive testing, Tomra Group has successfully implemented a reusable cup system while maintaining the safety standards required at professional football matches. Its experience suggests that innovative circular solutions can contribute positively to both fan experience and venue operations, while significantly reducing waste. Tomra Group believe this is an area with great potential for major sporting events, both today and in the future," says Ronnie Bergheim, Head of Security, Vålerenga Fotball Elite AS. "Royal blue on the outside, but green on the inside. Vålerenga, TOMRA and Coca-Cola are working together with a shared focus on sustainability and social responsibility at Intility. What is a natural part of the experience at the stadium now becomes more sustainable when the cup you buy your drink in - whether hot or cold - can be returned and you get the deposit back into your account. A win-win for you and the environment. Coca-Cola, TOMRA and Vålerenga Football are thus working together for great customer experiences and a more sustainable stadium," says Baard Tveito, Senior Manager Commercial Sustainability, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners. Want to make an additional impact? Donate the deposit. The club offers football fans the opportunity to donate the cup deposit by providing dedicated manual drop-off bins. The deposits donated help support the football club's local youth and social activities. During the pilot phase last season, more than 30% of returned cups were donated to the club.