AVK CSR 2023-24 web - Flipbook - Page 28
RECYCLED PLASTIC IN OUR
PRODUCTION
Recycled plastics is a value-adding component in the
product manufacturing process in the AVK Plastics
companies where thousands of tonnes of recycled plastics
go into production every year.
The mission of the AVK Plastics group of
companies is to contribute to a circular
economy of plastics through the development,
manufacturing, and sales of injection moulded
products from recycled plastics.
AVK Plastics’ major product categories are
transport pallets, surface boxes, and waste
containers. In addition to marketing their own
products, AVK Plastics also manufacture
products and components for other companies
within the AVK Group as well as outside the
group.
Circularity of materials is becoming increasingly
important, and recycling is an important part
of AVK’s business. The growth of the world’s
population and our current way of living is
causing us to consume natural resources faster
than they can be generated. Environmental
pollution from end-of-life product waste is
another major topic, especially for materials as
lasting as plastics. Implementing circularity also
reduces CO2 emissions significantly. All good
reasons to work with recycling.
CASE
COLLABORATION TO INCREASE THE
QUANTITY OF RECYCLED PLASTICS
In the financial year 2023/24, AVK Plastics
recycled 33,000 tonnes of post-consumer
plastics, an 18% increase from the previous
year. AVK Plastics actively pursue value chain
cooperation to develop product applications
for unused plastic waste streams to support
increased recycling levels. One example is the
partnership with Recon Polymers that focuses
on recycling beverage cartons.
Beverage cartons, commonly used for
packaging various beverages, pose a recycling
challenge. In 2023, Tetrapak, a major brand in
this sector, alone sold 179 billion packages. In
response to increasing demands for recycling,
Tetrapak invests €40 million annually to
improve the collection and recycling of these
packages. In 2023, about 1.3 million tonnes of
beverage cartons were collected for recycling,
an 8% increase resulting in a global collection
rate of 27%. Source: TetraPak Sustainability
Report FY23 p.34
A typical beverage carton, e.g. used for juice,
consists of 70% paper, with plastic used in the
closure system and a plastic-aluminium barrier
layer in the wall of the package to extend shelf
28 | AVK Sustainability report 2023/2024
life. During the recycling process at paper mills,
a plastic residue containing aluminium, known
as PolyAl, remains.
Establishing a pilot production in 2017, Recon
Polymers, based in the Netherlands, has
developed an efficient process to recycle
PolyAl. Since early 2022, AVK Plastics has
worked with Recon Polymers to optimise this
recycling process, finetuning
properties of the PolyAl granules
for use in AVK Plastics’
factories. These granules
are used as an ingredient
for several polyolefin-based
material formulations that
AVK Plastics uses in the
production of transport
pallets.
With financial support from Tetrapak, Recon
Polymers’ pilot production has become a
commercial manufacturing facility. Meanwhile,
AVK Plastics has invested in material handling
equipment at their Balk operation and has
over the past financial year used about 3,000
tonnes of PolyAl.
SOY
