Plastics & Rubber World - November/December 2019 - 38

Plastics industry awards 2019

Best Environmental or Energy
Efficiency initiative of the year

rPEt is a good bet

Shaun Williamson, Clean Tech's Helen Dennie, talent administrator and Matthew
Page, shift manager (with trophies), presented by Mike Bate, MD at KraussMaffei
Group UK (not pictured)

A

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38

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ccording to figures from the company, Clean Tech reprocesses about
50% of the post-consumer PET bottles collected in the UK through curbside
recycling programmes.
Acquired by US-headquartered packaging firm Plastipak in 2016, the tie-up
created a ready-made source of recycled
material for production of food-grade
rPET. After some machinery repurposing,
this material is now being used to manufacture drinks bottles for a series of major
manufacturers, including Coca-Cola and
Highland Spring.
Speaking about the company's entry
for this year's Plastics Industry Awards,
Kinza Sutton, head of public affairs and
sustainability at Plastipak, said: "Plastics in
the circular economy is a topic very much
under the spotlight, so we were optimistic that we would be shortlisted [for the
award]."
She continued: "The environmental
benefit from using recycled PET is substantial. Winning the award is a testament
to the hard work of the Clean Tech and
Plastipak teams, and a nod of affirmation
to our customers taking the decision to
include rPET in their bottles."
Sutton underlined the importance of
having a guaranteed source of UK-produced, food-grade rPET to support the
business. Many of the company's customers have committed to significant targets
covering manufacturing and reuse of plastic in their packaging and the Clean Tech
facility is a driving force behind achieving
those goals.

Without Clean Tech, she added, those
manufacturers would need to source
rPET from plants in France and Luxembourg, adding transportation costs and
emissions into the equation, while also
competing directly with other companies
sourcing rPET materials.
Sutton pointed out that there have
been a series of instances where drinks
manufacturers have switched to alternative materials. Some bottled water companies are now using aluminium cans and
glass bottles, but she noted these have
between three and 5.5 times the carbon
footprint of PET equivalents.
For every tonne of rPET produced,
Clean Tech says that the company saves
1.5 tonnes of CO2 output related to virgin
polymer production.
"PET is a fantastic material with its
ability to be recycled and reused in new
bottles when successfully collected and
reprocessed correctly," said Sutton. "Evidence-based decision making needs to
replace the emotion-based, knee-jerk
reactions that the media is driving. However, the negative coverage is driving the
substantial and much needed end-of-life
change for plastic within this country and
beyond, which is a positive benefit."
The use of recycled content has been
well-received by the company's customers and end consumers, reported Sutton,
who noted: "Recycled content is seen as
a 'badge of honour' and is a very tangible
demonstration of the brand's commitment to sustainable packaging that works
in a circular economy."
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