Leading packaging manufacturer Coveris embarks on the next step of its ReCover journey with the opening of a pioneering recycling facility, the second in its portfolio. ReCover, Coveris’ new recycling business segment, is dedicated to closing the loop and keeping plastic circular. The new ReCover plant, located at Coveris’ site in Louth, Lincolnshire (UK), uses ground-breaking technology to recycle printed polyethylene (PE) films.
“When we started to develop ReCover, our ambition was to close the loop and introduce a new business model, establishing ourselves as a recycler with a clear leadership in technological know-how. With ReCover Louth we opened the second facility, which represents the next achievement milestone in our agenda”, comments Christian Kolarik, CEO of Coveris.
Supporting Coveris’ No Waste vision and wider packaging sustainability frameworks in the United Kingdom and European Union, ReCover Louth creates a new lifecycle for printed PE packaging films from post-industrial waste (PIW) sources.
The dedicated ReCover facility within Coveris Louth’s PE extrusion and conversion site, uses an innovative de-inking recycling process where ink is removed from printed film packaging waste, which is then regranulated into high quality recycled PE resin, ReGen. Creating a new recycling infrastructure within the packaging industry, the two-year development of ReCover Louth’s capabilities produces a larger and more consistent supply of quality recycled resin, ReGen, for use in packaging film production. This achieves significant environmental benefits by reducing reliance on virgin raw material, eliminating waste and keeping plastic as part of a circular loop.
The facility comprises a ReCover Lab, a fully equipped laboratory to support innovation, quality control and validation of ReGen recyclate and its use in the extrusion of Coveris’ recycled content films.
With a long history of reprocessing, Coveris Louth’s printed film waste was previously recycled into building films. The development and introduction of ReCover Louth’s de-inking recycling capabilities allows printed film waste to be redirected into ReGen pellet production and upcycled into high performance non-food packaging including collation shrink films and tissue paper overwrap.
With the capacity to produce 5,000 tonnes of ReGen pellets annually, ReCover Louth uses printed waste feedstock from within the Coveris Group, its customers’ production waste and suitable post-industrial waste films from the industry. ReGen pellet will initially be used to fulfil requirements of recycled content within the Coveris Group and is compliant with the UK Plastic Packaging Tax, in addition to supporting UK Plastic Pact targets.
The new recycling facility, Recover Louth, is the second addition to Coveris’ closed loop recycling business segment. Coveris announced the launch of ReCover in December 2022, alongside the acquisition of a post-consumer waste mechanical recycling facility, now operating as ReCover Blaenavon. Through its capabilities at both ReCover sites, Coveris optimises the recycling of post-industrial and post-consumer PE waste in its mission to keep plastic circular.
Martin Davis, Coveris’ Business Unit Films President said, “Sustainability is at the heart of our business and the development and opening of ReCover Louth, our second recycling facility, is a significant step in our No Waste journey.
“Not only are we innovating and building more recycling infrastructure for the plastic packaging sector, but we are also developing longer and more circular lifecycles for our products.
“We are passionate about packaging and the value it brings; I am extremely proud of the Coveris and ReCover Louth teams for our ambitious and pioneering approach to developing and exploring new technologies to create a more sustainable future for packaging.”
Go behind the scenes and watch the development of the ReCover Louth recycling facility here.