A vehicle interior made from recycled beverage cartons?

PolyAl: a raw material for numerous applications  

Hard to believe, but true: the interior of the Fiat Grande Panda features a material made from the recycled plastic and aluminium components of beverage cartons. It is used in the centre console, the dashboard and the door panels. On closer inspection, the origin of the material becomes visible. The aluminium content creates a subtle shimmering effect, turning this special material into a real eye catcher. But how does a beverage carton become a component inside a car? 

From beverage carton to recycled material 

Everything starts with the collection of empty beverage cartons via the yellow bag or the appropriate recycling bin. One thing is crucial: the better we, as consumers, separate our waste, the more raw materials can be recovered from our packaging waste. If beverage cartons end up in residual waste, valuable resources for a wide range of further applications are lost. The highquality fibres alone, which make up around 75 percent of a beverage carton, can be recycled up to seven times. 

In the next step, the beverage cartons are separated from the remaining packaging waste in sorting facilities. This is followed by the actual recycling process, in which the carton is broken down into its individual material components. 

When recycling beverage cartons, proven technology is used. The first step involves mechanically separating the paper fibres from the plastic and aluminium layers. In paper mills specialised in recycling, this is done using a pulper drum that can process more than 200 tonnes of material per day. The paper fibres, suspended in water, then pass through the openings in the drum wall and are subsequently processed into paper products such as corrugated board, pizza boxes or folding cartons. 

After fibre recovery, a mixture of plastics (polyethylenes) and aluminium remains at the paper mill. This material is known as PolyAl. It consists of thin polyethylene films (LDPE) and aluminium from the carton barrier, as well as high density polyethylene (HDPE) from the closures. Until now, this material has mainly been used for energy recovery in cement plants, where it replaced primary energy from coal and other fossil fuels. The aluminium content also substituted mineral aggregates.

PolyAl becomes a material for the automotive industry 

The Italy-based company Lapo Compound has found an economically viable way to blend the remaining polymer and aluminium components with virgin polypropylene, rubber and additives. The result is Lapolen Ecotek, a versatile compound suitable for a wide range of applications. It meets the stringent testing requirements of the automotive industry, including dimensional stability as well as resistance to heat, scratching and weathering. This has enabled it to find its way into the interior of the Fiat Grande Panda. However, PolyAl can also be further processed in other ways.

PolyAl is turned into raw materials again 

The leading manufacturers of beverage cartons (Elopak, Tetra Pak and SIG Combibloc), together with partners, support the development of recycling infrastructures and the advancement of corresponding technologies. 
Today, it is therefore possible to separate the PolyAl mixture back into its individual components aluminium and plastic, enabling material recycling. At Palurec GmbH in Hürth near Cologne, the material mixture is mechanically separated and transformed into new secondary raw materials that can be used in a wide range of products. The result is three marketable recyclates: aluminium, HDPE (for example for canisters, pipes and crates) and LDPE (among other uses for injectionmoulding applications). 

In addition to Palurec GmbH, there are currently around ten other European companies specialising in PolyAl recycling. For example, the Spanish company Alier processes PolyAl into pellets that serve as the basis for a wide variety of applications, including construction materials and furniture. Recon Polymers from the Netherlands is also able to efficiently convert PolyAl into plastics that are used, among other things, to manufacture plastic pallets. 

Conclusion 

The capacities for the recycling of used beverage cartons have been in place for many years and are being continuously expanded. This process produces secondary raw materials that can be turned into in new products. However, even the unsorted PolyAl mix can be used as a material.
A prerequisite for both approaches is always the proper disposal of beverage cartons in the yellow bag or the appropriate recycling bin, so that the materials they contain can be collected, sorted and reused in various recycling processes.