Page 56 from: What’s inside issue #4?

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Petrilli serves customers in western
and southern Europe. ‘There is still a
lot of movement and potential for
business in the Italian industry,’ she

PLASTICS INNOVATORS CELEBRATED AT PRSE EXPO IN
AMSTERDAM
For the first time in the seven-year history of the PRSE Awards, the judges have
announced multiple winners in a category. It selected two Plastics Recycling
Ambassadors as well as the four product and two innovation category winners.
The awards were handed out on the second day of the annual Plastics Recyclers Europe
Show. The conference and expo, which covered three halls, once again drew a large interna-
tional audience of almost 9 000 people.

APPLAUSE FOR THE WINNERS!
Awards were presented to the winners of seven categories who included:
• Erica Canaia, ceo of Fimic, and Vicente Olmos Jorge, founder of Sintac Recycling, were

named industry ambassadors of the year. Canaia was commended for being a technology
expert who established the AreyouR project, aimed at increasing public awareness of plas-
tics recycling. Olmos Jorge, meanwhile, has been an active leader in the plastics recycling
sector for over 30 years.

• Beiersdorf & Morssinkhof Plastics Heerenveen claimed the Plastic Packaging Product of
the Year title with the Nivea sun lotion bottle. This winning design received high praise for
addressing the challenge of cosmetics packaging applications through collaboration.

• Multi-Color Corporation came top out of no fewer than 12 finalists in the category
‘Product Technology Innovation’ thanks to its NextCycle IML. The winning innovation helps
maximise the value of recycled polypropylene. It strikes a balance between shelf appeal
and recyclability for mono-material PP packaging.

• The Erema Group and Powerfil took home the award in the Recycling Machinery
Innovation category. Its DischargePro technology rings in a new generation of plastic melt
filters which has the power to greatly advance the plastic extrusion process.

RECYCLED TROPHY
Every winner received a trophy made from recycled plastics. Its 3D printed base was made
from 100% recycled ABS plastic car dashboards and the multi-colour top was laser cut from
compressed HDPE beach clean-up bottle caps.
PRSE president Ton Emans praised industry efforts for more innovative plastics recycling. He
said plastics recycling is a rapidly growing sector in Europe with a turnover of around EUR
10.5 billion.

adds, explaining that a new incentive
compensates any company that can
prove it is saving at least 5% energy.
‘Many recyclers are taking the oppor-

tunity to expand their operations or
modernise their equipment. It’s a
great step towards a greener, cleaner
industry.’

MEXICAN LEADERSHIP
‘Last year was the worst year for recy-
clers in Mexico in a long time,’ says
plastics recycler Ruben Valdez when
meeting Recycling International in
Amsterdam. ‘But the show must go
on,’ the entrepreneur adds with a
grin. ‘There’s never a good time to
invest or expand, is there?’
Valdez flew in from Mexico City to
represent his family company
Alcamare at the PRSE expo. ‘We’re
one of the biggest plastics recycling
players in our country,’ he tells
Recycling International. The fourth-
generation business processes 170
000 tonnes of plastic scrap every year,
mostly polyethylene (PE) and polypro-
pylene (PP).
Valdez reports Mexican plastics recy-
clers struggled throughout 2023 due
to persistent market uncertainty and
volatile scrap prices. ‘Things have
been picking up lately. But, you know
what, we actually invested in three
new balers to expand our recycling
line at the very dip of the market.
People in my network called me
crazy. I think you have to plan for the
future. Recycling plastics is the future.
You have to act on what you believe
in.’
Latest available market stats estimate
Mexico recycled four million tonnes
of plastic scrap in 2020. This is
expected to exceed 6.5 million
tonnes by 2030. Meanwhile, its over-
all plastics market was worth US$ 52
billion (EUR 49 billion) in 2022. It is
the world’s 11th largest plastic pro-
ducer and 12th largest consumer.

MANY HANDS ON DECK
Alcamare owns 16 collection centres.
‘We are based in Mexico City and
have a nationwide reach with some
material coming all the way from
Tijuana and people over the border,
up into California,’ Valdez says. ‘The
US is our most important business
partner. That’s where most of the
recycled plastic goes.’

He has a workforce of about 500 but
adds with a laugh that does not
include 27 000 individual waste col-
lectors in his contacts book. ‘It’s a
massive number, I know. Mexico’s
recycling infrastructure is very infor-
mal, unlike here in Europe. It pretty
much rests on the shoulders of waste
scavengers that get up at the break
of dawn to get their hands on as
much plastic as possible.’
Some people bring 20kg of plastic
bottles into the recycling yard daily
while bigger players deliver larger
batches. ‘All material is welcome.
Every kilogram is valuable feedstock.
It’s good to know we are helping so
many people make a living, too.’
Valdez is proud to be in the scrap
business and continuing his family
legacy. ‘I work alongside two brothers
who handle different departments,
one is in paper recycling and the
other oversees the plastics recycling
process. I make the purchasing deci-
sions.’
He points out that Alcamare is the
first Mexican plastics recycler to get
FDA approval in the US. PE output
fractions contain below 200 parts per
billion of volatiles, while PP contains
less than 150 parts per billion. ‘This is
far below the 300 parts per billion
allowed by the FDA,’ he notes. ‘It’s an
achievement we worked hard for.’

NEW NAME, BIG REACH
Amongst the exhibitors in Amsterdam
was French PET recycler Aloxe, a
young company which has been in
the market for nearly four years and
already boasts 120 000-tonne capaci-
ty across France, Poland and Italy.
‘We are by no means a start-up,
though,’ says company co-founder
Arnaud Piroëlle ‘We have adopted an
aggressive growth strategy and were
able to grow a lot through acquisition
and expansion.’
This includes the launch of Aloxe’s
PET recycling plant in Messein,
France, last November. The recycler
invested EUR 25 million on the site,
which can handle up to 50 000 tonnes
of material per year.
‘I’d say we are already the leader in
recycled food-grade PET in Europe

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