By Plasteurope.com staff

Portuguese recycler Ambiente (Leiria; www.ambiente-sa.com) said it has invested in expanding its reclaim capacity. At the company’s headquarters in Leiria, north of Lisbon, another recycling line was put into operation in a newly built production hall in June 2024.

The recoSTAR dynamic 165 C-VAC made by Starlinger (Vienna; www.starlinger.com) is primarily designed for the recycling of heavily soiled, moist, and strong-smelling post-consumer plastics waste.

A large proportion of the input material consists of used agricultural film (LDPE) and detergent bottles (HDPE), from which the Portuguese recycler produces granulate for film extrusion and blow moulding applications. The company wants to open up new areas of application for these materials, said MD Paulo Pires.

Related: PRE report says European recycling capacity at 12.5 mn t

Ambiente’s roots go back to 1953, when its compatriot parent company Fabrica Leiriense de Plasticos (Leiria; https://www.leiriplas.pt) began recycling production scrap internally.

The company became independent in the year 2000, currently employs a staff of 36, and recycles around 7,000 t/y of post-consumer, industrial, and household waste.

The rLDPE and rHDPE granulates produced from this waste are suitable for extrusion, blow moulding, and injection moulding applications and are supplied to customers in Europe and North Africa.

— Translated by Christopher Köbel