March 23, 2018

76% recycling rate in Germany

Approximately 175,000 tonnes of beverage cartons are produced for the German market every year. This equates to an amount of approx. 2 kilograms per capita per year.
Since the introduction of the Dual Systems framework (1991), almost 3 million tonnes of beverage cartons have been recycled.
This has been achieved through numerous activities by beverage carton manufacturers on a national and international scale. In addition to the promotion of innovative recycling processes, collection and sorting of used beverage cartons throughout Europe has steadily improved.

Ambitious – but achievable

An ambition that pays off! And with the new packaging law coming into force in the coming year, a separate rate for beverage cartons has been fixed. By 2022 at the latest, a recycling rate of 80% is compulsory.

The 7 Lives of Pure-Pak® cartons:

For paper recycling, the long and tear-resistant cellulose fibers of our beverage cartons are optimally suited. As a result of their high quality, these can be recycled up to 6 times. New boxes for pizza, eggs or shoes can be made from the used beverage cartons.

Recycling - How it works!

Beverage cartons are comprehensively covered by the Dual Systems collecting containers: In the sorting facilities, they are seperated from other valuable substances into their own section using an infrared scanner with a high degree of sorting accuracy
In the recycling plants, the first step is to crush the packaging.
IThe chopped-up material dissolves in the 30-metre long metal cylinder, with a diameter of 3 metres. The paper seperates from the aluminium PE coating and the symthetic closures - completely natural and without chemicals.
The pulp is pushed through the small holes in the drum wall, cleaned, thickened and pumped into the paper machine.
After just two and a half hours, the pulp is seperate again and available for reuse, for example in pizza and shoe boxes or egg cartons.
What is left:

Plastic and aluiminium can be used as fuel
Plastic can be used for the production of new plastic products
Aluminium can be used as a hardening agend in ceement

Beverage carton recycling companies in Germany

In Germany, ReCarton, a 100% subsidiary of the Fachverband Kartonverpackungen für flüssige Nahrungsmittel e.V. (FKN - the trade association focused on carton packaging for liquid food products), functions as a contractor for the nine Dual Systems companies now in existence.
ReCarton signs recycling contracts with paper factories and takes responsibility for the management of logistics as well as the delivery of “volume flow records” to state ministries for environmental protection.
Recyclingbetriebe Deutschland ReCarton
Standorte Recyclingbetriebe
Pure-Pak® Sense Website
Beverage Carton Recycling Video
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