Danish supplier of plastic trays for the food industry Færch Plast is closing the loop on plastic food trays with the acquisition of 4PET Group, a Dutch group specialised in PET recycling for food contact.
Færch Plast announced the acquisition 25 July, saying it was a key step in becoming one of the world's first integrated plastic packaging suppliers that can achieve a circular economy for recycling food trays on an industrial scale.
Based in the Netherlands, 4PET Group is specialised in PET sheets and food-contact recycling, with four operation sites and a €50m turnover in 2017.
In June, the Dutch company opened a new tray-to-tray recycling line at its plant in Duiven, which it claimed was a world first. The technology recycles and processes PET of any colour, including black packaging.
“The acquisition of 4PET Group is an outstanding opportunity for us to close the loop and a leapfrog in terms of sustainability," commented Færch Plast Group's CEO, Lars Gade Hansen. With the modern infrastructure in place at 4PET to sort and process plastic tray waste, the company can successfully recycle used trays into raw material for new food contact products, he added.
According to Hansen, 4PET's technology is an “industrial-scale break-through”, which would enable Faerch Plast to transition towards a sustainable circular economy.
“With the shift from a linear to a circular economy, plastic food packaging becomes a sustainable packaging choice for the food industry,” continued Hansen.
The transaction is expected to close during the third quarter of 2018, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.