Plastipak opens PET recycling facility in Spain

          Plastipak, with its North American headquarters in Plymouth, Michigan, announced the official launch of a major recycling investment at its production site in Toledo, Spain, by Don Emiliano García-Page, president of the Castilla-La Mancha region. The new recycling facility will convert recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) flakes into food-grade recycled PET pellets suitable for direct use in new preforms, bottles and containers, the company said.

         The new recycling plant will produce 20,000 metric tons of food-grade recycled pellets per year and will eliminate emissions associated with the transportation of recycled resins as it is located at Plastipak’s current preform production site. The recycling plant is Plastipak’s fifth such facility, with others located in the United States, France, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom. In Europe, Plastipak is the largest producer of food-grade r-PET, with an annual r-PET capacity of more than 150,000 metric tons. Pedro Martins, executive managing director of Plastipak Europe, said, “The use of r-PET is a key tool in reducing our customers’ scope 3 related emissions and is an important part of their ESG - [environmental, social and governance -] packaging-related commitments. In addition to supporting our customers in reducing their financial obligations under the planned Spanish plastics tax, the plant will also help meet the minimum recycled content levels required by the Single-Use Plastics Directive.”

         To support on-site power generation, the facility incorporates energy-efficient technologies and equipment, including more than 1,800 photovoltaic (PV) solar panels installed on the roof. The photovoltaic panels are expected to generate more than 1,339 MWh of electricity per year, which will be consumed entirely on site, saving more than 443 metric tons of CO2 per year by avoiding electricity consumption from the national grid. This is in addition to the CO2 emissions avoided by using 20,000 metric tons of recycled resin instead of virgin resin, the company said.

         Jack Pacente, Vice President of Global Sustainability, said: "We are delighted to open another world-class PET bottle-to-bottle recycling facility and make additional investments in emissions reduction programs, which demonstrates our leadership in the circular economy. Plastipak already sources 100% of its electricity consumed in Europe from renewable sources, and the installation of the photovoltaic panels is our second on-site renewable power generation project in Europe. Long-term emissions reduction is a core pillar of our ESG program, as evidenced by our commitment to register with the Science Based Targets initiative."

         David, Global Recycling Business Manager at Plastipak Stajninger added, “Plastipak began recycling post-consumer bottles in 1989 to support our customers, when post-consumer resins were not widely available for bottle-to-bottle applications. This expansion further strengthens Plastipak’s global strategy to use high-quality, integrated r-PET materials to continue to meet the growing needs of our customers.”