The winners of the first Plastics Recycling Awards Europe were announced 25 April at the Plastics Recycling Show Europe, held at the RAI Amsterdam in The Netherlands. The five award winners were:
- Plastics Recycling Ambassador of the Year - Willemijn Peeters, Ocean Ambassador and Founder, Searious Business
- Building & Construction Product - Beaulex, rainwater buffers, DS Smith Plastics
- Recycled Plastic Consumer Lifestyle Product of the Year – Grundig vacuum cleaner made from WEEE recycled plastics, Arçelik A.Ş
- Recycled Plastic Packaging Product - Systalen PRIMUS HDPE regranulates, Der Grüne Punkt – Duales System Deutschland GmbH
- Technology Innovation in Plastics Recycling – BarrierPack Recyclable, functional and recyclable PE-based laminate packaging, Mondi.
“The winners have... demonstrated how passion, innovation, ingenuity and determination can achieve practical, commercial and successful advances in plastics recycling,” said Ton Emans, awards judge and president of Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE).
According to Emans, the entries received by PRSE had “very high standards”, showing a growing range of consumer and industrial applications in which recycled plastics and recycling technology are being used.
“They are making a huge contribution towards conserving resources, reducing CO2 and sustaining the circular economy,” he added.
The winners each received a trophy designed and made by the Better Future Factory. The base is 3D printed from 100% recycled ABS plastic car dashboards and the multi-colour top is laser cut from compressed HDPE beach clean-up bottle caps.
Also commenting, fellow judge and editor of Plastics News Europe Karen Laird said Beaulex are an “excellent example” of how a good idea, clever design and recycled plastics can come together in a construction product that is perfectly suited for its purpose.
The Beaulex balls replace the use of old tires for rainwater buffering systems under hardened surfaces and can easily be dug up and recycled again. They are clean and efficient in use.
The Grundig vacuum cleaner is a highly commendable initiative from Arçelik AŞ, a household appliances manufacturer.
Used appliances collected from customers are delivered back to Arçelik‘s two licensed waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) recycling facilities, where they are disassembled for sustainable recycling and eventually used in manufacturing of new products.
The Systalen PRIMUS HDPE is a high-quality bottle made from recycled HDPE material that looks as if it is made from virgin material.
“This used only to be possible using PET,” explained Laird.
“The recycled Systalen PRIMUS HDPE bottle has been used to package Emsal Parkett cleaning agent since 2016, and Emsal Vinyl since 2017. This is a winner because it is a real advance that has been successfully implemented.”
Mondi's PE-based BarrierPack Recyclable sustainable flexible packaging material is fully recyclable and still offering exceptional mechanical properties.
It has long been impossible to recycle barrier packaging, because of the different layers used to create the necessary barrier.
“This is an extremely important step forwards in the development of barrier packaging materials,” said Karen Laird, “which is why they won.”
The Plastics Recycling Awards Europe were presented at the Plastics Recycling Show Europe, which was held in Amsterdam 24-25 April, organised by Crain Communications and Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE).
The growing event brought together key players from the plastics and recycling sectors to showcase innovative technology, share best practice, network and do business.
The PRS Europe conference examined a wide range of the latest industry themes including plastics recycling technology and innovation, market and trends as well as the regulatory background.