Tetra Pak and Stora Enso invest in complete carton recycling solution

Tetra Pak and Stora Enso have joined forces to boost the recycling capacity of beverage cartons in Central and Eastern Europe, with an investment of €29.1 million.

The project will ensure collected cartons are managed in an environmental manner, making full use of the materials resulting from the recycling process.

The partnership will see the introduction of a large-scale carton repulping line at Stora Enso’s Ostroleka production unit in Poland, which will triple the annual recycling capacity of used beverage cartons in Poland from 25,000 to 75,000.

The increased capacity will enable the recycling of the entire volume of beverage cartons sold in the country, as well as those from neighbouring countries including Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

Stora Enso will invest €17 million into the repulping line, while Tetra Pak – along with Plastigram – will invest €12.1 million to build an additional line, which will recover and separately recycle the polymers and the aluminium.

The separated materials will be used as raw materials for various end applications: the recycled fibres will be integrated into Stora Enso’s recycled board, while the separated polymers and aluminium will be used to make products such as crates and foils. Both lines will be operational by the beginning of 2023.          

“Today, carton packages are recyclable. They are collected and recycled at scale where waste management and recycling infrastructure is in place. But for us, that’s not enough,” said Charles Brand, president of Tetra Pak Europe & Central Asia.

He added: “We are seeking opportunities across the entire recycling value chain to improve how cartons get recycled and to develop solutions that effectively recycle all packaging components, including polymers and aluminium.”

Hannu Kasurinen, executive VP of Stora Enso’s packaging materials division, said: “With this development we can advance towards a greater degree of recyclability, a critical factor in enabling a circular bioeconomy. We are delighted to join forces with Tetra Pak in what will be another important milestone towards the fully circular future we expect to realise.”