Recyclate reduces CO2 emissions

Alpla is committed to the circular economy: the international packaging specialist invests more than 50 million euros in recycling every year and utilises modern technologies for the production of recycled materials. With an installed and projected annual output capacity of 350,000 tonnes, the company is one of the world's leading plastics recyclers. Analyses by the life cycle assessment specialist c7-consult now confirm the Efficient production at a total of four locations in Mexico and Germany. There, Alplarecycling produces rPET and rHDPE, which contains up to 87 per cent less CO₂ caused as new goods.

„The figures confirm our approach. We produce climate-friendly recycling solutions with a regional focus, process them into new packaging and thus promote the ‚bottle-to-bottle‘ cycle. In this way, we ensure safe, affordable and sustainable packaging solutions worldwide.“

Georg Lässer, Director Business Development, Procurement and Sales Recycling at Alpla

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Alplarecycling produces 30,000 tonnes of rHDPE every year at its recycling plant in Toluca, Mexico. The production process in Toluca produces 0.69 kg CO₂e per kilogramme. These are 70 per cent fewer emissions than with HDPE virgin material (2,32 g CO₂e per kilogramme). Since 2005, the the company in the joint venture ALWAYS (Industria Mexicana de Reciclaje S.A. de C.V.) together with Coca-Cola FEMSA and The Coca Cola Company in Toluca the then first PET recycling plant in Latin America. It has an annual production capacity of 16,000 tonnes of rPET. According to the analysis, production causes only 0.38 kg CO₂e per kilogram, which is 87 per cent less than virgin PET (2.90 kg CO₂e per kilogramme).

The rPET production capacity in Mexico will be increased to 51,000 tonnes next year. In cooperation with Coca-Cola FEMSA the work is currently under construction Planeta (Planta Nueva Ecología de Tabasco) in Cunduacán. For the collection, the joint venture partners use the model of the paid acceptance of used PET bottles and social co-operations.

„Recycling is a key element in the packaging solutions of the future. We want to convince people of the benefits and base this on sound data. Precisely analysing our plants also enables us to improve our ecological footprint in a targeted manner.“

Carlos Torres Ballesteros, Alpla Managing Director Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean

With an annual production capacity of 43,000 tonnes of rPET, Alplarecycling is one of the largest PET recycling companies in Germany. Material from the Yellow Bag is processed at the site in Bitterfeld-Wolfen (Saxony-Anhalt). To this end, unique sorting and processing facilities were built in 2019. The recycling of PET bottles from household collection leads to a slightly higher energy requirement for washing. In Bitterfeld-Wolfen, for example, 0.93 kg per kilogramme of rPET CO₂e on. This causes the Recycled material 68 per cent lower emissions than virgin material. At the PET recycling site in Bad Salzuflen (North Rhine-Westphalia), the figure is just 0.68 kg CO₂e per kilogramme, which corresponds to a reduction of 77 per cent.

Alplarecycling's recycling plants in Austria and Poland prove that there is still potential for optimisation. PCF was calculated. Due to the additional Use of renewable energies rPET can be produced with a footprint of up to 0.21 kg CO₂e per kilogram, which corresponds to Reduction of up to 93 per cent corresponds. Conversions to renewable energies are also currently being examined for plants in other countries.

Source: Alpla