From recycled-content coffee machines to advanced recycling equipment, this year’s Plastics Recycling Awards Europe recognised companies and individuals driving innovation across the plastics value chain.
The winners were announced during the recent Plastics Recycling Show Europe (PRSE) in Amsterdam. The annual event marked the awards’ tenth anniversary and honoured achievements in seven categories.
According to organiser Plastics Recyclers Europe, the winning entries demonstrate how recycled plastics are continuing to gain ground in demanding applications while recycling technologies become increasingly sophisticated.
Many winners
This year’s awards recognised products, technologies and companies from across Europe:
| Category | Winner |
| Automotive, electrical or electronic product | Eletta Ultra coffee machine – De’ Longhi Appliances and Sirmax |
| Building & construction product | Neular Unlimited T&G Board 32×138 co-extrusion profile – Neular |
| Household & leisure product | L-Boxx Contractor – Robert Bosch Power Tools and LyondellBasell |
| Plastic packaging product | 50% rPET white opaque bottle for UHT milk – Parmalat |
| Product technology innovation | Milsani Topi rPS dairy cup – Aldi Nord, Aldi Süd & Hofer with Fernholz and Zott |
| Recycling machinery innovation | Volex – Erema Engineering Recycling Maschinen und Anlagen |
Several winning products demonstrated how higher levels of recycled content can be incorporated into mainstream consumer goods. Others reflected preparations for new European legislation, including the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation.
The recycling machinery category recognised Erema’s Volex technology. According to the judges, the system delivers improved degassing while reducing volatile organic compounds and fogging.
Ambassadors recognised
The organisers named not one but two Plastics Recycling Ambassadors of the Year, recognised for ‘advancing plastics recycling in Europe’.
One award went to Mattias Philipsson, ceo of Swedish recycler Svensk Plaståtervinning. He leads the company’s Site Zero facility, one of the world’s largest plastic packaging sorting plants. The installation processes up to 200 000 tonnes of plastic packaging each year. According to the company, it can sort as much as 95% of incoming material into recycling fractions.
The second ambassador was Ansgar Thees Ovelgönne, managing director of German recycler Thees Kunststoffverarbeitung. The company has worked in plastics recycling for more than two decades. It operates three recycling facilities that annually process more than 50 000 tonnes of mainly polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) scrap.
All winners received a trophy made from recycled plastics. The base was produced through 3D printing using recycled ABS from automotive dashboards. The top section was laser cut from compressed HDPE bottle caps collected during beach clean-up campaigns.
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