Setting up a circular solution for Big Bags
The first steps to realise this closed-loop FIBC solution (from Big Bags to Big Bags) were taken when Starlinger, supplier of machinery for woven plastic packaging production and plastics recycling, learned about the interest of PET Recycling Team (PRT) with regard to recycling their used Big Bags. PRT is one of Europe’s leading companies for recycling PET material. Soon after, LC Packaging, producer and distributor of Big Bag solutions, and Velebit Recycling joined the conversation. According to Andreas Anderl, Project Manager rPP at Starlinger, “a common goal was easily identified: developing a circular solution for the bags used by PRT”.
PRT uses food-contact Big Bags to transport and store the recycled PET granulate until the converting plant processes the material into preforms as a prior step before new bottles are blown. After the bags have been emptied, they are sent to Velebit Recycling’s facility, where Starlinger’s recycling technology is applied to turn them into Post-Consumer recycled Polypropylene (PCR-rPP) granulate. Dutch-Bangla Pack Ltd., LC Packaging’s production location in Bangladesh, uses this granulate to produce new high-quality big bags for PRT, deploying Starlinger’s specially developed rPP extrusion technology during the process. The loop is closed when these FIBCs with 30% recycled content arrive at PRT for use in a non-food-contact application.
The difference between Post-Consumer Recyclate (PCR) that is used in this project and Post-Industrial Recyclate (PIR) is an important one. While Post-Industrial Recyclate refers to recycling of material waste created during the manufacturing process, Post-Consumer Recyclate is material that has been made from packaging that has actually been used, sorted, collected, cleaned and recycled into new rPP granules. In terms of environmental impact, Post-Consumer Recyclate makes the difference.
Making an impact together
The established closed-loop solution offers benefits for all parties involved.
Christian Hude-Burian, Plant Manager PET Recycling Team Wöllersdorf, Austria explains: “With this solution, we achieve a significant reduction in waste, since used Big Bags are now turned into new Big Bags that we can use again for our purposes. This helps us to save natural resources and reduce our CO2 emissions.”
For LC Packaging, the project marks one of the first closed loops that has been have set up for rPP Big Bags. According to Thorsten Classen, Managing Director at LC Packaging GmbH, “a big advantage of this project is having access to a continuous stream of premium quality recycled material”.
