Partnership for more recycling of beverage cartons
Stora Enso and Tetra Pak collaborate on the recycling of beverage cartons.
The partnership sees the introduction of a recycling line for beverage cartons at Stora Enso’s production unit in Poland. The large-scale carton repulping line will triple the recycling capacity of used beverage cartons in Poland from 25,000 to 75,000 tpy. This will allow recycling of the entire volume of beverage cartons sold in the country and the ones coming from neighbouring countries, including Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
Recycling of beverage cartons – recovering carton fibres, polymers and aluminium
The total investment is €29.1m. Stora Enso will invest €17m into a new repulping line that will recover the carton fibres. Tetra Pak along with Plastigram will invest a total of €12.1m to build an additional line. It will recover and separately recycle the polymers and the aluminium, using a patented separation technology. Both lines will be operational in early 2023.
The separated materials will be used as raw materials for various end applications. Recycled fibres will be integrated into Stora Enso’s recycled board. The separated polymers and aluminium will be given new life in the form of different kinds of products, such as pellets and foils. The investment aims to contribute to the development of a circular economy at a country level. It will be fully aligned with the European Green Deal. The collected cartons will be managed in an environmentally sound manner, making full use of the materials resulting from the recycling process.
“The project holds potential to increase capacity for future excess volumes”
“Today, carton packages are recyclable. They are collected and recycled at scale where waste management and recycling infrastructure is in place. But for us, that’s not enough. We are seeking opportunities across the entire recycling value chain to improve how cartons get recycled and to develop solutions that effectively recycle all packaging components, including polymers and aluminium. Therefore, I am very proud of this investment as well as of the strong partnership with Stora Enso that made this advancement possible. Collaborative action is key to realize our ultimate ambition – a world where all carton packages are collected, recycled and never become litter,” says Charles Brand, president of Tetra Pak Europe & Central Asia.
“Stora Enso delivers packaging materials produced from renewable sources. With this development we can advance towards a greater degree of recyclability, a critical factor in enabling a circular bioeconomy. We are delighted to join forces with Tetra Pak in what will be another important milestone towards the fully circular future we expect to realize. Moreover, as EU collection systems continue to evolve, the project holds potential to increase capacity for future excess volumes,” says Hannu Kasurinen, executive VP of Stora Enso’s Packaging Materials division.
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