Go nature. Go carton.
OVERVIEW ACTIONS SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS EXPLORE
Collaborating to ensure more packages are recycled
Carton packages are recycled across the globe, where efficient waste management and recycling infrastructures are in place. Accelerating this requires all stakeholders to play an active role, including governments, local authorities, producers and consumers.
Our team of recycling experts are engaged in cross-industry collaboration with paper and plastic recyclers on a global, regional and local level to help improve processes and expand their capacity. We co-invest in recycling equipment and collaborate with equipment suppliers to optimise solutions and get the most out of the materials.
Collaboration and co-investment in practice
Recently, we have invested in new recycling facilities in Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Australia, increasing the capacity to recycle carton packaging. From building recycling capacity from scratch via cross-border cooperation (in Saudi Arabia), expanding that capacity by 50% (in Turkey) to leveraging a public/ private partnership (in Australia), these projects share one single, critical trait. They will enable recycling of all components of a used carton package, transforming them into quality materials and goods.
To advance recycling of polymers from cartons, we have worked with other carton package producers to increase capacity for recycling in Germany through the Palurec initiative, founded in 2017 by FKN, the German association for liquid food carton packaging. Palurec’s EUR 8 million plant outside Cologne was completed in 2020, and opened for business in early 2021, with capacity to recycle 18,000 tonnes of polyAl per year, or around 50% of available polyAl in Germany.
We’ve also been working with paper products manufacturer Bio Pappel to find new recycling solutions while expanding the market for products made from recycled cartons. We expect to reach a capacity of 24,000 tonnes per year and increase the carton recycling rate in Mexico to 40% over five years.
These are some examples from an entire range of co-investments and collaborations we are engaged in with the goal of advancing recycling capacity and solutions. This is how we believe we can strengthen recycling infrastructures and realise recycling at scale.
