ALPLA
Renewable energy halves carbon dioxide emissions of rPET at Austrian recycling plant
 PRT's rPET resin has fewer carbon dioxide emissions (Photo: Alpla) |
The use of renewable energy has boosted the carbon footprint of rPET produced by Austria’s PET Recycling Team (PRT, Wöllersdorf; www.petrecyclingteam.at). PRT is a wholly-owned subsidiary of plastics packaging manufacturer Alpla (Hard / Austria; www.alpla.com).
The results, confirmed in an independent study by Austrian consultancy c7-consult (Lindau; www.c7-consult.at), show that by using a now optimised power mix, in-house production of rPET has a carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent of 0.21 kg, compared to 0.45 kg in 2017 – see Plasteurope.com of 21.12.2017. According to PET Recycling Team, virgin PET has a CO2 equivalent of 2.15 kg, meaning that greenhouse gas emissions for recycled material from the Wöllersdorf plant are only a tenth as high.
“By switching to electricity from renewable sources, we have again managed to reduce CO2 emissions by a considerable margin,” said plant manager Peter Fröschel. “Our annual production of rPET amounts to around 31,000 t. It would take a mixed forest area the size of 6,231 football pitches to absorb the same amount of CO2 emissions we are saving each year compared to the production of new PET material.”
Calculated in accordance with life cycle assessment standard ISO 14044, the carbon footprint investigation started with the collection and sorting of used PET bottles and included transportation to the Wöllersdorf plant as well as washing, processing and granulating. The analysis was based on electricity and gas consumption for 2016, which the company said had remained constant since.
CEO Günther Lehner added that the company has seen greater demand for products made from recycled materials. “In recent years, we have managed to move away from discussions that focus purely on cost, establishing sustainability as a core value,” he said.
As well as Wöllersdorf, Alpla operates a recycling plant in Radomsko / Poland along with another in Mexico as part of a joint venture. A total of 65,000 t/y of food-grade rPET is produced from post-consumer material at the three plants.
The results, confirmed in an independent study by Austrian consultancy c7-consult (Lindau; www.c7-consult.at), show that by using a now optimised power mix, in-house production of rPET has a carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent of 0.21 kg, compared to 0.45 kg in 2017 – see Plasteurope.com of 21.12.2017. According to PET Recycling Team, virgin PET has a CO2 equivalent of 2.15 kg, meaning that greenhouse gas emissions for recycled material from the Wöllersdorf plant are only a tenth as high.
“By switching to electricity from renewable sources, we have again managed to reduce CO2 emissions by a considerable margin,” said plant manager Peter Fröschel. “Our annual production of rPET amounts to around 31,000 t. It would take a mixed forest area the size of 6,231 football pitches to absorb the same amount of CO2 emissions we are saving each year compared to the production of new PET material.”
Calculated in accordance with life cycle assessment standard ISO 14044, the carbon footprint investigation started with the collection and sorting of used PET bottles and included transportation to the Wöllersdorf plant as well as washing, processing and granulating. The analysis was based on electricity and gas consumption for 2016, which the company said had remained constant since.
CEO Günther Lehner added that the company has seen greater demand for products made from recycled materials. “In recent years, we have managed to move away from discussions that focus purely on cost, establishing sustainability as a core value,” he said.
As well as Wöllersdorf, Alpla operates a recycling plant in Radomsko / Poland along with another in Mexico as part of a joint venture. A total of 65,000 t/y of food-grade rPET is produced from post-consumer material at the three plants.
29.03.2018 Plasteurope.com [239350-0]
Published on 29.03.2018
German version of this article...