NETHERLANDS – Tetra Pak has invested €1 million (US$1.09m) in Recon Polymers, a material processing and recycling company, aiming to scale up a pilot plant into a full-fledged industrial operation capable of recycling a minimum of 8,000 tonnes of PE and aluminum (PolyAl) from beverage cartons annually.
The collaboration between Tetra Pak and Recon Polymers dates back to 2011 and formalized into an official partnership in 2019 after advancements in technology.
Markus Pfanner, Tetra Pak’s vice president of sustainability, highlights that Tetra Pak’s investment enabled Recon Polymers to ramp up its recycling capacity from 2,000 tonnes of PolyAl to at least 8,000 tonnes annually.
Pfanner explains the process: “Recon Polymers receives plastic and aluminum fractions from beverage cartons, separating HDPE plastic from the caps and LDPE plastic with some aluminum (PolyAl) from the carton layers.”
Recon Polymers focuses on tailoring recycled materials to meet various market needs and has established crucial partnerships with end users of recycled materials like AVK Plastics and Aectual.
Pfanner notes that these partnerships ensure both solutions for recycled materials and secure circular solutions, contributing to the recycling of approximately 30% of PolyAl from beverage cartons collected in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
The success in scalability has paved the way for expansion into other countries. Recon Polymers emphasizes collaboration with companies utilizing recycled materials in their production processes, supported by Tetra Pak, which provides relevant partnerships.
Pfanner underscores Recon Polymers’ distinctive approach in recycling by considering end-users of the recycled material, thereby creating more valuable production chains compared to other recyclers.
Tetra Pak views the increased recycling of beverage cartons as a collective effort across the chain and considers its investment a part of this collaborative endeavor.
Additionally, Tetra Pak recently partnered with Alier, a paper manufacturing and waste recovery company, to facilitate PE and aluminum recycling from beverage cardboard containers in Spain.
Another collaboration between Tetra Pak and Lactogal introduced an aseptic beverage carton with a paper-based barrier in Portugal.
This packaging, with 80% paperboard and 90% renewable content, boasts a one-third reduction in its carbon footprint, certified as “Carbon Neutral” by the Carbon Trust.
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