Südpack acquired further shares in Carboliq GmbH as of 2 January 2024. Dirk Hardow was also appointed Managing Director. The company wants to be involved in the recycling of plastics and chemical recycling.
The acquisition of the majority stake in Carboliq was signed on 15 December. For Erik Bouts, CEO at South pack, this means „a logical next step. We see the Carboliq technology as an indispensable building block for the transformation process of our industry towards a more sustainable future. circular economy."
The takeover also underpins the film manufacturer's leading position in terms of the circular economy in the flexible packaging industry. To date, Südpack is the only manufacturer of flexible films that has direct access to Capacities for chemical recycling has.
„We are deeply convinced of the advantages of this advanced technology compared to other oiling processes. In our view, Carboliq technology offers significant advantages over other processes in terms of energy consumption and processing windows for a wide range of recyclable materials.“
Dirk Hardow
In concrete terms, Carboliq is an advanced thermo-chemical process, also known as direct oiling is called. The Carboliq process differs significantly from other pyrolysis processes due to its flexibility with regard to infeed materials, which do not necessarily have to be of polyolefinic origin. Thanks to this high feedstock tolerance, Carboliq is also suitable for oiling contaminated, mixed or other plastics as well as flexible packaging and highly complex multilayer films. The process takes place at a lower temperature of below 400°C. The low process temperature, the single-stage nature of the process and the introduction of energy directly into the material via friction enable material conversion with relatively low energy input. The first pilot projects with customers have already been successfully realised or are currently in the implementation phase.
„We assume that chemical recycling will play a key role in the upcoming PPWR (Packaging & Packaging Waste Regulation), not least to enable the required recyclate utilisation rates, particularly in the production of food packaging.“
Dirk Hardow
The Carboliq plant concept - based on high-calorific feed fractions and in fully continuous operation - is currently geared towards a Annual output of around 10,000 tonnes designed. The secondary raw material marketed under the name CLR (Circular Liquid Resource) is similar in many key properties to fossil crude oil and the products derived from it - and is therefore a fully-fledged substitute for fossil resources.
Dirk Hardow is looking forward to getting customers excited about the technology and further establishing the process on the market together with the Carboliq team. After all: „In our opinion, the transition to a circular economy cannot be achieved solely through mechanical recycling, but rather through a healthy mix of different technologies.“
Source: South pack
