Recycling capacities for beverage cartons are to be increased in Poland. Stora Enso and Tetra Pak have invested in a new recycling plant for this purpose. The plant will triple capacity and process cartons not only from Poland but also from neighbouring countries.
With a joint investment of around EUR 29 million from Stora Enso and Tetra Pak a new recycling plant for used beverage cartons goes into operation in Poland. Stora Enso has invested around EUR 17 million in a new Processing plant for the recovery of cardboard fibres and Tetra Pak, together with Plastigram, has invested a total of around EUR 12 million in the construction of the new plant. The plant has the potential to to triple annual recycling capacity for beverage cartons in Poland - from 25,000 to 75,000 tonnes - and offers the opportunity to include the entire volume of beverage cartons sold in Poland as well as additional volumes from neighbouring countries such as the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania.
„We are very pleased with the results of our close co-operation with Tetra Pak, which, like Stora Enso, is focused on developing sustainable solutions. This new state-of-the-art solution represents a significant expansion of European recycling capacity and is a concrete step towards a circular economy for consumer packaging. The recycling plant not only complements the current scale of our production facility in Poland, but will also make an important contribution to the recycling and waste reduction targets of the EU proposal for a regulation on packaging and packaging waste.“
Hannu Kasurinen, EVP Packaging Materials at Stora Enso
The plant at Stora Enso's production facility in Ostrołęka, which has an annual capacity of 50,000 tonnes, is used exclusively for separating materials from beverage cartons, separating fibres from polymers and aluminium. The fibres are then recycled into carton materials, effectively contributing to the circular economy by converting used paper packaging into new paper-based packaging materials. This New paper recycling plant is supplemented by the Czech company Plastigram Industries, which, together with Tetra Pak, is developing a solution for recycling PolyAl1 into new products.
„For decades, we have been working to increase beverage carton recycling capacity by investing in new equipment and facilities together with recyclers, technology providers and suppliers. In 2022, Tetra Pak invested almost €30 million in collection and recycling projects worldwide. Further investments of up to €40 million per year are planned in the coming years. As part of the Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (ACE), we support the industry's goal to increase the collection and recycling rate for beverage cartons in the EU to 90 per cent and the recycling rate to 70 per cent by 2030. I am very pleased that our collaboration with Stora Enso is leading to one of the largest recycling centres for beverage cartons in Europe and thus contributing to this goal. This is also an excellent example of how systemic and collective action can help keep high-quality renewable materials such as paper fibres in the loop.“
Lars Holmquist, EVP Sustainability & Communications at Tetra Pak
The new plant will Boosting the recycling of beverage cartons throughout Central and Eastern Europe and signalling the beverage carton industry's willingness to support the objectives of the proposed EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR). The packaging industry has already invested around €200 million to increase beverage carton recycling capacity in the EU and plans to invest a further €120 million by 2027.
Source: Stora Enso
