Beverage trays made from plastic waste

Greiner Packaging has developed a plastic tray that consists of 70 per cent recycled PET obtained from the Yellow Bag. 

Together with partners, Greiner Packaging has developed a plastic tray for beverages that consists of 70 per cent recycled PET obtained from the Yellow Bag. 

Anyone who goes shopping in the supermarket will be familiar with them: trays from which drinks bottles can be removed. They allow efficient, space-saving and safe transport and save supermarket staff the time-consuming task of putting them on the shelves. In order to take a further step towards sustainability, Rauch Fruchtsäfte will in future be using Beverage trays made from recycled material - the new trays are made from 70 per cent recycled PET.

The following are used for the beverage trays Material that is removed from the yellow bag. As part of a project, it was proven that r-PET flakes can be produced from post-consumer material through thorough pre- and post-sorting, subsequent shredding and washing. These flakes are then extruded into PET film (70 per cent recycled material), which is then used by the Greiner Packaging Business Unit Greiner Assistec is thermoformed into r-PET trays. In terms of quality, the Recycled trays are in no way inferior to beverage trays made from virgin material.

The plastic trays from Greiner Packaging are made of r-PET from the Yellow Bag
(Image: Greiner Packaging)

Input material other than PET beverage bottles, such as cups, tubs, trays, etc., is used to produce the r-PET flakes. The project thus demonstrates that it is possible to establish alternative PET value streams. Because production of packaging made from recycled PET, the plastics industry today relies primarily on r-PET flakes. which are obtained by recycling PET bottles. This so-called bottle stream is already well established. The potential for recycling other PET packaging from the yellow bag, on the other hand, is currently still underutilised. The aim, however, is to realise corresponding Establish recycling streams on a large scale in future.

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„The realisation of beverage trays made from r-PET material that does not come from the bottle stream is a great opportunity for us: on the one hand, we are focusing on a sustainable product. On the other hand, we are promoting a tray-to-tray cycle. As a beverage manufacturer, it is of course particularly important to us that high-quality r-PET from the bottle stream is also available for the production of new r-PET bottles and that alternative forms of packaging are used for the production of other products.“

Hanno Mandl, Purchasing Manager at Rauch Fruchtsäfte

Greiner Packaging can already look back on many years of experience in processing recycled PET for its packaging. In September 2022, the plastics expert announced the acquisition of a Serbian r-PET flakes recycler, which now operates under the name Greiner Recycling.

Source: Greiner Packaging

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