Swedish Plastic Recycling (SPR) is set to invest €98 million in a new facility that it says will be able to recycle “practically all kinds of plastic packaging” completely without CO2 emissions.
The new state-of-the-art facility, which will be based in the city of Motala, is set to be completed by 2023.
“We are doubling our capacity and will be able to handle 200,000 tonnes of plastic packaging per year. This creates the conditions needed for receiving and eventually recycling all plastic packaging from Swedish households,” says Mattias Philipsson, CEO of Swedish Plastic Recycling.
According to the company, thanks to cutting-edge technology it will be possible to recycle “practically all types of plastic”. SPR’s current facility can manage four types of plastic – in the future the new site will reportedly make it possible to sort and recycle twelve different types.
Any small parts of plastic that remain after the sorting process are separated to be sent to chemical recycling, or to become new composite products, with no packaging going to incineration.
SPR says that the facility, named Site Zero, will be completely climate neutral with zero emissions. The facility is powered by renewable energy, and the small amount of plastic and other waste that cannot be recycled will reportedly be sent to energy recovery without climate emissions, so-called CCS (Carbon Capture Storage).
There are also plans to produce renewable energy by covering the building’s large flat roof with solar panels.
“This investment creates the prerequisites needed for making Sweden a world leader in plastic recycling. Being able to do it together with our producer customers and owners, who consist of large parts of the Swedish business community, is very inspiring,” says Philipsson.
The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency will also contribute with financing of just over €17 million through the climate investment aid programme known as Klimatklivet.
