In the plant, Stora Enso has invested around €17m for a new repulping line that will recover the carton fibres and Tetra Pak along with Plastigram has invested a total of around €12m to construct the new line
A image of baled beverage cartons reaching the repulping line. (Credit: Stora Enso Oyj)
Finnish paper company Stora Enso and Sweden-based Tetra Pak have announced the opening of a new recycling line for post-consumer beverage cartons in Poland.
In the plant, Stora Enso has invested around €17m for a new repulping line that will recover the carton fibres. Tetra Pak along with Plastigram has invested a total of around €12m to construct the new line.
According to the paper company, the new line can increase the annual recycling capacity of beverage cartons in Poland from 25,000 to 75,000 tonnes.
The line also has the potential to recycle the entire volume of beverage cartons sold in Poland. Additionally, it can accommodate extra volumes from surrounding nations like the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania.
Tetra Pak Sustainability & Communications EVP Lars Holmquist said: “For decades, we have been working to enhance beverage carton recycling capacity, co-investing with recyclers, technology providers and suppliers in new equipment and facilities.
“In 2022, Tetra Pak contributed nearly €30m to collection and recycling projects worldwide, with plans to go further and invest up to €40m annually over the next years.
“As part of the Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (ACE), we support the industry ambition to increase the collection for a recycling rate of beverage cartons to 90% and the recycling rate to 70%, in the EU, by 2030.”
The advanced line at Stora Enso’s production facility in Ostroka, Poland, has an annual capacity of 50,000 tonnes. It is dedicated to beverage carton material separation, separating fibres from polymers and aluminium.
Stora Enso said that the fibres are then recycled into carton board materials. This supports material circularity by turning used paper-based packaging into new paper-based packaging materials.
The new paper recycling facility is complemented by Czech company Plastigram Industries, which is working with Tetra Pak to industrialise a solution to recycle polyAl, the non-fibre component of carton packages, into new products.
Stora Enso Packaging Materials EVP Hannu Kasurinen said: “We are very pleased to see the results of our close cooperation with Tetra Pak, who, like Stora Enso, has the development of sustainable solutions at their core.
“This new modern solution marks a significant addition to European recycling capacity and a concrete step forward in the circularity of consumer packaging.”