TRADE SHOW REVIEW PETplanet Insider Vol. 24 No. 06/23 www.petpla.net 36 Support an organised value chain of rPET Recycled PET is and will be an increasingly sought-after material. Due to EU directives and the obligation of numerous packaging manufacturers to use a high proportion of rPET in their products, but with less demand at the moment, the rPET market is becoming increasingly stressed. Numerous circular economy initiatives, recycling-friendly product design, certificates that guarantee the origin and quality of rPET are important individual building blocks for shaping the rPET market. At the PRSE 2023 in Amsterdam all hot topics of the plastics recycling industry were discussed. There is still no organised value chain for rPET in Europe (or worldwide). The producer of high quality recycled material company Aloxe was founded in 2020 by Arnaud Piroëlle and Clément Lefebvre, two wellknown experts in the PET and chemical industry. PETplanet spoke to Aloxe about the current rPET market situation, the company’s growth strategy and the challenges of establishing an rPET value chain. PETplanet: What was the trigger for founding Aloxe? What reasons were important for you and what is your goal? Aloxe: The two founders, Arnaud Piroëlle and Clément Lefebvre drawing on their experience at leading companies in the sector (BASF, Veolia) and in entrepreneurship decided to found Aloxe to address a the fast-growing sustainable packaging market in Europe. They identified a strong demand in the food-contact rPET market, with customers looking for standardised high volumes and demanding quality in the face of a market that was still fragmented and offering inconsistent quality; the project started from this observation, to establish a leader who could guarantee large volumes with high and consistent quality. PETplanet: You currently produce in three countries: in Italy, France and (two factories) in Poland. How much rPET do you produce pre year and what equipment do you use? Aloxe: In 2024, Aloxe will have a 120,000 t rPET pellets output capacity in Europe. We run state-of-the-art recycling lines like Erema and Starlinger in brand new plants, allowing optimum industrialised processes. Our core business is high quality and food contact rPET pellets to supply the beverages, food containers, cosmetics, pharmaceutical, and home & personal care packaging industry. We supply standardised products with good processability for our customers. PETplanet: What kind of flakes and pellets do you produce? Where do you see more demand – from the packaging- or from the textile/technical industry? Aloxe: We mainly supply the foodgrade packaging industry and foster circular economy such as bottle to bottle. Demand is driven by European regulations and some local taxes on the incorporation of recycled plastics, and also by companies’ commitments to the plastics circular economy, hence reducing their carbon footprint. We supply different markets: CSD bottle with Orgop clear P rPET pellets with high IV, non-CSD bottle, trays and food containers with Orgio clear rPET pellets, cosmetics and pharmaceutical containers with Orgio Crystal rPET pellets meeting the high transparency requirements, and milk bottle with Orgio Olive. We produce flakes for our own pelletising lines and also offer food grade flakes (Efsa approved) to meet customers’ needs. PETplanet: Where do you buy your bales, your material from? Are there reliable partners? What is your approach to be able to process enough material? Aloxe: At Aloxe, we buy bales and flakes; we are partially integrated to guarantee a secured and steady supply. To achieve this, we benefit from a wide network and long-standing partnerships built over time; our feedstock is secured to meet our customers’ requirements in terms of quality and origins. PETplanet: What do you find useful about the EU directives and what could be improved? Do they strengthen the European rPET market? Aloxe: Establishing concrete recycled target contents for bottles in the EU has boosted the recycling industry! Today, as the industry moves to meet these targets in Europe, the rPET value chain has become a showcase not only in Europe but worldwide and proves that the plastics circular economy is on the move. We still face many challenges, of course, but the momentum is there. Being realistic, future regulations will set F.l.t.r.: Aloxe team at the PRSE: Stefano Petrucci - Sales Manager Europe South; Tomasz Czerwinski - Project Manager Europe; Paul-Pierre Piolé – Sales Director; Kira Laudy – Executive Assistant; Miguel Alfaro Neira – Raw Materials & Energy Procurement Manager and Dariusz Lanski - Account Manager Europe East
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