— By Plasteurope.com correspondent — 

Olivier Vilcot, a former general manager of French plastics recyclers association Syndicat national des Régénérateurs de matières Plastiques (SRP, Paris; www.srprecycle.com), was named Plastics Recycling Ambassador at an award ceremony held at this year’s Plastics Recycling Show Europe (PRSE) in Amsterdam on 1 and 2 April.

Vilcot, who previously worked as general manager of Suez’s (Paris; www.suez.com) plastics recycling division, was chosen by judges in what was described as a “close contest”.

Seven accolades, including Vilcot’s, were handed out at the eighth annual awards ceremony, which recognises the best use of recycled plastics and recycling technology and innovation. The event was jointly organised by Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE, Brussels, www.plasticsrecyclers.eu) and Crain Communications.

Recycling Machinery Innovation of the Year went to GAINnext by Tomra Recycling, which the judges praised for its potential to unlock an ever-growing uptake of recyclates in new applications, including contact-sensitive ones. Tomra Recycling is part of Norwegian sorting technology specialist Tomra (Asker; www.tomra.com).

Klöckner Pentaplast (KP, London; www.kpfilms.com), won the Plastic Packaging Product of the Year award with its 100% kp Tray2Tray solution. Judges said the product “promotes closed-loop packaging recycling while guaranteeing enhanced on-shelf appeal for products”.

Other winners were:

• Automotive, Electrical, or Electronic: Colored PP Recycled Material Interior Trim Parts for Ford Transit and Ford Truck Vehicles, Ford Otosan (Gölcük, Turkey; www.fordotosan.com.tr)
• Building & Construction: Pretty Plastic ‘Second High’ panel by Pretty Plastic (Amsterdam; www.prettyplastic.nl)
• Household & Leisure: aquaplus re., by Lamy (Heidlberg, Germany; www.lamy.com) together with HolyPoly (Dresden, Germany; www.holypoly.co)
• Product Technology Innovation: CleanStream by Berry Global (Evansville, Indiana, USA; www.berryglobal.com)

All seven winners received a trophy featuring a 3D-printed base made from 100% recycled ABS plastic car dashboards, and a multicolour top laser-cut from compressed HDPE beach clean-up bottle caps.