The investment in a complete recycling solution is set to significantly improve recycling throughout Central and Eastern Europe
Tetra Pak and Stora Enso have recently joined forces to boost the recycling capacity of beverage cartons in Poland, with an investment of €29.1 million.
The partnership, which follows a comprehensive feasibility study, sees the introduction of a large-scale carton repulping line at Stora Enso’s Ostrołęka production unit in Poland.
The line will triple the annual recycling capacity of used beverage cartons in Poland from 25,000 to 75,000 tonnes. This will allow recycling of the entire volume of beverage cartons sold in the country as well as ones from neighbouring countries, including Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
Stora Enso will invest €17 million into a new repulping line that will recover the carton fibres, while Tetra Pak, along with Plastigram, will invest a total of €12.1 million to build an additional line. This will recover and separately recycle the polymers and the aluminium, using a patented separation technology. Both lines will be operational by the beginning of 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 crates and foils.
The investment aims to contribute to the development of a circular economy at a country level. It will also 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.