Spanish start-up company Repetco Innovations (Madrid; www.repetco.com) has inaugurated its first domestic packaging delamination and recycling plant in Albacete with a declared capacity of 150,000 t/y of multilayer PET and polyethylene food packaging waste such as pots, trays, and tubes. In the initial phase the facility will recycle up to 75,000 t input material per year into rPET and rPE, focusing on post-consumer packaging that is now primarily landfilled or incinerated.

CEO Rafael Sánchez-Castillo Lodares said the company invested more than EUR 65 mn in the facility, adding that the plant is 100% clean and sustainable.

Repetco’s technology converts food packaging waste into rPET and rPE pellets that can be reused to manufacture bottles and other products for various industries, including food, textile, and automotive. According to COO Juan Carlos Sirviente Rodrigo, the rPET pellets output will be around 45,000 t/y, while rPE capacity will be at 3,000 t/y.

In terms of clear PET from multilayer trays, there are material losses of about 33% compared to the input material, as layers, lids and other impurities have to be removed, he said. Regarding the planned rPP volume there is no information.

The Spanish start-up describes its patented technology as “pioneer and revolutionary”, emphasising that it does not require the use of any toxic components, though no further details were provided except that it is a mechanical process.

The new plant is part of the Romica-Circular project, the first industrial park in Castilla-La Mancha in the South of Madrid that is committed to more sustainable and environmentally friendly production models. Construction of the Albacete plant has been funded by equity capital, shareholder loans, grants, and financing from the European Investment Bank (EIB), which contributed EUR 31 mn. The plans are supported by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 framework programme.

One of the project partners is the Austrian company Next Generation Recyclingmaschinen (NGR, Feldkirchen; www.ngr.at), which has installed two lines in Albacete for the decontamination of the material and the subsequent granulation.