Austrian packaging specialist Alpla and Swiss packaging equipment supplier Fromm Holding AG have tightened their PET recycling collaboration with the formation of a new joint venture.
The two companies, which both operate recycling plants for PET bottles, entered a partnership last July to work on the distribution of PET waste among their recycling units.
The new JV, announced 28 March, will be an extension of the collaboration and involve a joint investment of €7m between the partners. Its main activity will be to sort and process PET waste from the German yellow bins/bags recycling stream.
The necessary approvals, the companies said, have been granted and the JV should begin operation at the Wolfen facility of Texplast, a Germany subsidiary of Fromm.
“PET Recycling Team Wolfen” will recycle the PET from the yellow bins, initially focusing on PET rigid packaging – most notably non-deposit food and beverage bottles as well as bottles for cleaning products.
“We want to process the clear bottles from the yellow bag in such a way that the material can be used in the production of new bottles,” said Georg Lässer, head of recycling at Alpla.
Flakes from coloured PET waste will be used in the manufacture of strapping bands, according to Lässer.
The joint venture also has an eye on the “huge backlog” of other types of PET packaging such as trays, thermoforming films and blister packs.
“The investment creates the conditions for further developing the recycling process for these items on an industrial scale in collaboration with the film industry,” explained Matthias Schäfer of Texplast.
