Food and drink packaging maker Tetra Pak has invested in a recycling plant in the Netherlands that will process tricky non-fibre material from waste beverage cartons.
The firm joined with a company called Yellow Dreams to pump €3 million (£2.5m) into the facility in Ittervoort.
Due to start operating in the second half of next year, the plant will process polyAl, a mix of polymer and aluminium used in many paper-based drinks cartons.
Tetra Pak said the site could process the entire volume of this difficult material from beverage packaging recovered in Belgium and The Netherlands, as well as part of that collected in Germany.
It will have an annual capacity of 20,000 tonnes, complementing an existing 8,000-tonne plant in Roosendaal.
Drinks cartons are recycled by 20 specialised paper mills across the EU, with polyAl currently processed by 10 facilities.
Tetra Pak vice-president for collection and recycling Kinga Sieradzon said: “We are pleased to announce this new plant, which significantly enhances the recycling capacities of used beverage cartons in the region.
“This is another milestone in our collaborative journey with all stakeholders across the value chain, to drive collection, sorting and recycling.”
