End of Life and Recovery

At the forefront of Europe’s green transition in plastics, Aliplast – a Hera Group company – is set to present its fully circular industrial model at IPACK-IMA 2025, the leading international trade fair for processing and packaging.

The winners of the eighth annual Plastics Recycling Awards Europe were announced on the second day of the Plastics Recycling Show Europe, which took place in Amsterdam on 1 and 2 April. The 2025 winners exemplify the best advances in the use of recycled plastics in products, as well as the latest innovations in technology and machinery that facilitate plastics recycling.

Syensqo, a leading provider of advanced high-performance materials and chemical solutions, has successfully completed an ambitious project demonstrating that multi-layer food packaging containing Ixan polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC) can be effectively recycled into raw materials for other applications within a polyethylene (PE)-based waste stream.

Megamark, a distribution group based in Southern Italy, has entered into an agreement with Tosca, focusing on quality, durability, and logistics. Not only high performance, but also a strong commitment to environmental responsibility: thanks to robust, reusable packaging, Tosca has established itself as the ideal partner for Megamark, making every operation more efficient and sustainable.

IFCO, one of the global leaders in the production of reusable packaging for fresh products, achieved a new record in energy efficiency in 2024, further strengthening its position at the forefront of sustainability in the industry.

Emmi, as a founding member of the industry association RecyPac, is leading a significant initiative to launch a nationwide circular solution for plastic packaging and beverage cartons in Switzerland.

A partnership agreement between Sacme and Aliplast has been signed to offer GDO chains the opportunity to transform their packaging film waste into bin bags for waste, which are then sold as private label products within the same chain that generated the waste. This represents a circular economy model with significant environmental impacts.

The October 2024 monitoring report for the RiVending project highlights the growing commitment to sustainability during Italians’ coffee breaks. Over the past year, more than 76.5 million plastic cups have been recycled, saving 523 tonnes of carbon dioxide. Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, and Veneto top the regional rankings, with 1.8 million, 1.5 million, and 1.1 million cups collected respectively in the past month alone.

Rekeep Group, through its subsidiary Servizi Ospedalieri, a company specialising in laundry and sterilisation services for the healthcare sector, has announced the launch of a pilot project for the recovery and reuse of flexible packaging film. This material is used for the delivery and collection of healthcare textiles (sheets and uniforms) at hospitals served by the Group's laundering services.

By Giampiero Zazzaro

While the European Union has mandated that by 2030 all packaging must be industrially recyclable, signalling a shift towards a circular economy and transforming packaging from a disposable product into a continuous resource, NASA has its eyes set on a much broader horizon. It is now looking at the recycling of space waste, pointing us towards a future where the lifecycle of packaging could extend beyond Earth, turning waste into useful resources for space exploration. Are we ready for this leap into the unknown?