OneCircle taps into the circular economy

Recyclable lightweight kegs

All manufacturers of plastic, lightweight kegs claim that their kegs are 'recyclable'. But what does that really mean? What's the difference between recyclable kegs and kegs with a circular design?

The claim 'recyclable' simply means that the materials from the keg can be used again. However, that re-use can be for almost anything, from used plastics into new kegs to processing them into the plastic posts we see on roadsides everywhere or burning them. Thus 'recycling' is a very broad term that includes less-desirable forms of re-use such as low-quality plastics (the roadside posts) and even incineration.

Circular KeyKeg and UniKegs

Our kegs have a circular design. That means that new kegs are recyclable and they can be made from the materials in the used ones or that the material is suitable for similar applications; in the best case in a closed loop. Incineration and low-quality applications, the so-called down cycling, are no long term sustainable options. We are paving the way to a circular economy; we believe this model is the only sustainable way to do business in the long term.

The chances that a keg without a circular design will actually get re-used are slim. The materials they are made of have little economic value so they are not attractive for the plastic recycling industry so in real-life examples end up being incinerated. Used kegs with a circular design have much greater economic value and waste providers are keen to get access to the materials for re-use.

KeyKeg is currently the only keg with a circular design. The majority of a KeyKeg (86%) consists of pure PET and PP, widely used plastics with high economic value, which can be used again and again for a high-quality re-use product including KeyKeg or UniKeg. Similar high-value applications have been found for much of the remaining 14% of the material.

Plastic recycling industry and plastic kegs

The plastic recycling industry, for large containers such as our kegs, is relatively new and cannot handle the influx of this size of plastics adequately yet. There are too many different kinds of plastic (over 250), and they're often in combinations that are impossible to process and in too large or too small quantities. It is therefore important that we as manufacturers take responsibility and only make packaging from plastics that can be re-used. We are doing exactly this, and going even further by collecting and processing KeyKegs and UniKeg ourselves.

www.lightweight-containers.com