PRSE expo shines spotlight on seven industry innovators

The winners of the 8th annual Plastics Recycling Awards Europe were announced at the Plastics Recycling Show Europe in Amsterdam.

‘Many of this year’s shortlisted entries showcase innovations in plastics recycling that would have been considered unattainable just a few years ago,’ says said Ton Emans, Plastics Recyclers Europe’s president. ‘This demonstrates just how far the industry has progressed since the inception of these awards and underscores the critical value that plastic recycling plays for the future of European industry.’

And the winners are…

• Automotive, Electrical & Electronic Product: Colored PP Recycled Material Interior Trim Parts for Ford Transit and Ford Truck Vehicles, Ford Otomotiv Sanayi A.S. It was highly praised by judges for the high percentage of post-consumer recycled content and its high potential to reduce emissions for vehicle production.
• Building & Construction Product: Pretty Plastic ‘Second High’ panel by Pretty Plastic B.V.
• Household & Leisure Product: aquaplus re-painting set, by C. Josef Lamy GmbH × HolyPoly GmbH
• Plastic Packaging Product: kp 100% Tray2Tray by Klöckner Pentaplast (Linpac Packaging)
• Product Technology Innovation: CleanStream by Berry Global. This closed-loop system mechanically processes recovered household waste polypropylene (PP) back into contact-sensitive packaging. The winning innovation fosters regional circularity and gained high marks for successfully addressing the challenge of cosmetic applications while promoting reuse.
• Recycling Machinery Innovation: GAINnext by TOMRA Recycling
• Plastics Recycling Ambassador: Olivier Vilcot, Former General Manager, SRP

Recycling trophy

All seven winners received a winner’s trophy, with a 3D-printed base made from 100% recycled ABS plastic car dashboards and the multi-colour top, which is laser-cut from compressed HDPE beach clean-up bottle caps.

‘We congratulate all finalists. We’ve seen the quality of the submissions rise significantly, which has not made the job of selecting a winner for each of the categories any easier,’ comments Karen Laird, Editor in Chief of Sustainable Plastics and jury chair of the PRSE Awards.