PETpla.net Insider 01+02 / 2021
MATERIALS / RECYCLING 17 PETplanet Insider Vol. 22 removes the cardboard banderol and peels off the seal made from alumin- ium. What remains is the rPET cup itself, which is not printed nor lami- nated with other plastic types. Both print colours and multilayer material would contaminate the material and impede recycling for food packaging applications. Closed loop recycling PET-Man and Starlinger viscotec highlight the importance of ef fi cient collection and sort- ing of packaging waste. It is a crucial prerequisite for recycling and for the circu- lar economy to work. The project partners, therefore, initiated a regional collection system for the white rPET cups and installed collection points at recycling centres and supermarkets. Thou- sands of cups have since been collected and then recycled and reprocessed, to close the recycling loop. Packaging made from rPET has a low CO 2 foot- print and leaves reusable glass packaging and plastic packaging made from virgin material far behind in terms of emissions. To raise the consumers’ awareness, Starlinger viscotec and PET- Man provide information for customers to allow a factual discussion about what con- stitutes an environmentally friendly packaging as not all customers were in favour of the switch from glass to plastic at fi rst. Leonhard Zaumer delivered his own verdict on the initiative: “We were prepared to explain our packaging choice to our customers in person, on our webpage and via social media. It is important to pro- vide objective information for the discussion. In my opin- ion, the carbon footprint is a holistic measure to evaluate the impact of products on our environment.” www.viscotec.at Local collection points for rPET cups rPET yogurt cups
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