Caps made from 100 % recycled post-consumer plastics
The Brazilian recycling company Grupo Ecological, based in Limeira, to the west of São Paulo, has two plastic recycling lines dedicated to processing challenging post-consumer and post-industrial plastics into high-quality regranulate. Two of Lindner’s Micromat shredders and one Lindner Washtech washing line ensure a consistent throughput and output of high-quality plastic flakes. In a joint project with Unilever, the companies created caps made from 100 % recycled post-consumer plastics, helping Unilever reach its 2025 global sustainability objective ahead of schedule.
Grupo Ecological, founded in 2012, has established itself on the market as a recycling specialist for processing post-consumer and post-industrial plastics. As a manufacturer of high-quality recyclate, the company makes a valuable contribution to a well-functioning circular economy. “We are aware of our socio-ecological responsibility and more than happy to step up to this role,” says Fábio Kühl, circular economy advocate and founder of Grupo Ecological. “It is precisely why we started the #circularsustentável programme.” This is a closed-loop programme that aims to transform post-consumer plastics into high-quality recyclates. These, in turn, should be used to manufacture premium products made entirely from 100 % recyclate – a win-win situation for the economy and the environment which has become a reality in this joint project with Unilever.
The collaborative project with Unilever stands out as a success story for the #circularsustentável programme. In August 2022, after two years of joint in-depth research, Unilever launched the first caps in Brazil made from 100 % recycled post-consumer recyclate for its Silk and TRESemmé brands. The Rexona, Seda and Comfort brands followed a little while after and were furnished with the same recycled caps, keeping 700 t/a of plastic recyclate in the loop. What’s more, Unilever was able to reach its 2025 global objective to use at least 25 % recycled plastic in its packaging three years earlier than planned. A huge success for Unilever as well as for Grupo Ecological. “Producing recyclate to be used in the cosmetics industry means it requires a high degree of purity, consistent quality as well as it needing to be odourless and virtually neutral in colour,” Kühl explains. “A standard that we are able to achieve thanks to our Lindner washing and recycling plant.”
Fábio Kühl and his team came across Lindner’s technology at a plastics trade show in Brazil. They then visited reference facilities and operating lines that used Lindner shredders and washing lines. Subsequent material tests performed using Lindner plants ultimately resulted in purchasing the first and now second Micromat 1500 along with the washing components from Lindner Washtech.
By using two Micromat series shredders, the company can now process post-industrial material such as BOPP (biaxially oriented polypropylene), Big Bag waste and post-consumer materials made from BOPP and polypropylene raffia (Rafi-PP). A low proportion of fine material is also important along with the throughput and resistance to contaminants. When dealing with heavily contaminated materials, such as post-consumer plastics, the downstream washing and drying processes are crucial to the quality of the flakes, which will end up being used to produce the recyclate. “Our production includes two different recycling lines, one to process post-industrial plastics and another to recycle post-consumer plastics. When processing the post-industrial material, the plastic flakes coming out of the shredder are sent directly to the extruder whereas the post-consumer recycling line incorporates the Lindner Washtech washing components in between these machines,” says Kühl. “The Micromat series of Lindner shredders represent the key component of our lines and they are pivotal to our production capacity. They are extremely reliable, even when handling tough materials, and offer an impressively high, consistent throughput with a screen size that ensures 90 % of the output is shredded to < 25 mm. We process up to 800 tonnes of plastic a month – so reliability is of paramount importance. Throughout the years Lindner has been, and continues to be, a reliable partner on our path to success.”
The collaborative project of Unilever Brazil and Grupo Ecological serves as a global reference. In 2023 alone, Unilever could increase the proportion of post-consumer plastics in its packaging from 27 % to 37 %. “Fabio Kühl and his team have shown with this project that, given the right technology, it is entirely possible to produce high-quality recyclate from post-consumer plastics and for this recyclate to fulfil the strict criteria of the cosmetics and food industry,” says a pleased Frederico Hartmann, CEO of Lindner LATAM, about Grupo Ecological’s success. The caps, manufactured from 100 % recycled post-consumer plastics, are produced for Unilever’s Personal Care business group as well as being used in the company’s Nutrition division for ketchup bottles. “We have collaborated with Fabio Kühl for many years and so it is particularly pleasing to see such a positive outcome of this project and that our shredding and washing expertise is used efficiently in connection with the circular economy.”
Photo: Fabio Kühl, founder and CEO of Grupo Ecological in front of one of the Lindner Micromat 1500.
