R-Cycle received this Wednesday the German Sustainability Award 2021 in the packaging category. The award is sponsored by former Federal Minister Brigitte Zypries, and consulted by the German Institute for Service Quality (DISQ), the German news channel ntv, and DUP UNTERNEHMER (German Entrepreneurship Platform for Digitalization and Sustainability).
R-Cycle is responsible for developing a tracing standard for sustainable plastic packaging that is open and globally usable. R-Cycle is a cross- company initiative which includes Arburg, Brückner Maschinenbau, Comexi, Erema Group, Gs1 Germany, Institut Für Kunststoffverarbeitung (Ikv), Kampf, Kautex Maschinenbau, Multivac, Prodata, Reifenhäuser Group, Steinert in its consortium.
Some industries, such as medical supplies or perishable foods have adopted plastic packaging as an essential part of their operations, making it a part of everyday life. Yet, the this growing global demand for plastic packaging takes a toll on the environment and its consequences can’t be ignored. Even in Germany, an eco-conscious country, only about 6% of plastics from domestic waste are being recycled to make the same amount of new products.
A challenge frequently faced in the recycling process is the correct identification of different plastic packaging compositions, making it one of the reasons for the currently low recycling rate. Having a digital product passport fixed to the plastic packaging helps significantly improve the sorting process; and R-Cycle is such a digital product passport.
This digital product passport is machine readable via special markings and based on an open standard. R-Cycle automatically records all recycling-related properties during packaging production and shares this information along the value chain. Waste sorting plants can then identify recyclable packaging and form recyclable fractions. This is the foundation for making pure and high- quality recyclates as an effort to contribute to a functioning circular economy.
“We are delighted to receive this award,” says Dr. Benedikt Brenken, Director of the R-Cycle Initiative. “Digitalization and sustainability are two megatrends that we have integrated beneficially in R-Cycle. The use of a digital product passport, as also required by the European Union, offers enormous potential to increase the recycling rate of plastic packaging.”
