Mondi claims to have reduced 95% of its waste at its Dutch and German release liner production sites in two years through its partnerships with Veyzle, WEPA, and Soprema; the treated waste is now used as secondary raw material for hygiene and insulation applications.
At Mondi’s pilot locations in Jülich, Germany and Heerlen in the Netherlands, Veyzle collects siliconized and coated paper production waste to sort, shred, and bail the different papers. These are then sent to WEPA, where the company’s advanced repulping technology valorizes the coated papers to create toilet paper, paper towels, and other paper-based hygiene products.
Mondi, Veyzle, and WEPA’s operations all take place within a close proximity in order to cut down on transport as much as possible.
Furthermore, Soprema is utilizing Mondi’s production waste as a base material in its cellulose wadding. This insulation solution is said to increase the energy efficiency of buildings.
It is anticipated that the partnership will conserve valuable resources and help Soprema increase the proportion of recycled materials in its products while avoiding waste.
“At Mondi, we view waste as a loss in resources and have committed to eliminate waste from our production processes through our MAP2030 agenda,” says Carlos Martinez Ezquerra, Circular Economy manager Flexible Packaging at Mondi. “In this project, we aimed at using the production waste more effectively by valorizing it as secondary raw materials in other applications.
“We are very proud of the 95% reduction we achieved at both locations and now look forward to working with CELAB, the leading industry initiative for the self-adhesive label value chain, and building relationships with other partners to further improve the circular flow of materials also in our other release liner locations across Europe.”
Late last year, Soprema forged a similar partnership and became UPM Raflatac’s main partner in label waste recycling in the EMEIA region. Label waste collected via the RafCycle recycling service is set to be converted into new construction and insulation materials.
Finnish start-up Fiberwood, which produces insulation and packaging materials from side streams of the mechanical wood industry, previously received funds from a seed funding round led by Metsä Spring, the innovation arm of Metsä Group. Its cushioning and protection sheets are said to be a suitable replacement for Styrofoam, preventing damage to products in transit.
Also, Fedrigoni Self Adhesives’ Re-Play product line is designed to upcycle the discarded glassine backing of other self-adhesive products into a new premium labelling solution.
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