The recycled HDPE from two Spanish plants of the Alpla Group is said to cause up to 88 percent less CO2 equivalents compared to virgin material.

This is the conclusion of an analysis by management consultants c7-consult, which Alpla, an international manufacturer of plastic packaging, commissioned to calculate the carbon footprint for rHDPE (recycled HDPE). Recycling plastic packaging has been an important part of Alpla's sustainability strategy for more than 25 years, it says. Alpla reportedly advocates a closed-loop packaging system based on the "bottle-to-bottle" principle. In 2018, the company committed to investing a total of €50 million in expanding recycling activities by 2025 by signing the Global Commitment of the New Plastics Economy, an initiative of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, and increased this investment target to an average of €50 million annually since 2021. By 2025, all packaging solutions should also be 100 percent recyclable and contain 25 percent recyclate. The current carbon footprint calculation for rHDPE by c7-consult includes the separate collection and sorting of post-consumer HDPE bottles, transport to Alpla recycling plants, and washing and processing into rHDPE granulate. The rHDPE produced in Montcada, Spain, is sais to have a carbon footprint of 0.24 kilograms of CO2 equivalent per kilogram. This would correspond to 88 percent less greenhouse gas emissions compared to virgin HDPE, which had a carbon footprint of 1.92 kilograms of CO2 equivalent per kilogram. And rHDPE produced in Venta de Baños is said to have 0.28 kilograms of CO2 equivalent per kilogram, or 85 percent less greenhouse gas emissions compared to virgin material.

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