THE winners of this year’s Plastics Recycling Awards Europe have been announced.
Seven category winners were revealed during the Plastics Recycling Show Europe in Amsterdam, will all victors described as exemplifying the advances in the circular use of plastics, as well as the recycling innovation and technology that are enabling this progress.
The winner of the Automotive, Electrical or Electronic Product was the Electrolux 700 GreenZone MaxiSpace fridge freezer, featuring Coolrec’s High Impact Polystyrene (HIPS) recycled polymer. The judges acknowledged this is an outstanding example of the evolving use of high quality recycled plastic.
In the Building & Construction Product category, the winner was Ridgidrain by Polypipe Civils & Green Urbanisation. A ‘wash & squash’ campaign within the local community where Polypipe manufactures Ridgidrain has helped the company to source post-consumer waste from HDPE milk and bleach bottles.
In the Household & Leisure Product category, covering all types of domestic and leisure goods, this year’s winner was Husqvarna Group’s Gardena Eco Line gardening tools made with recycled materials.
The winner of the Plastic Packaging Product category was a fertiliser container made of recycled plastics by PreZero Polymers, Kunststoff Recycling and Compo. Made from recycled plastics from household waste, every part of the multi-part container can be recycled after the labels are removed.
Avient Corporation triumphed in the Product Technology Innovation category with its Avient Color Prediction Service. Judges were impressed by its potential to open the door to the use of plastic recyclates in an increasing range of aesthetic applications. The Color Prediction Service can digitally illustrate the colour possibilities or limitations of certain types of post-consumer recycled (PCR) material, simplifying the colour decision-making process during product development and launch.
The winner of the Recycling Machinery Innovation award was ENGEL Austria for its two-stage process for more energy efficient plastics recycling. The method eliminates granulation from the plastics recycling process, as regrind is processed directly in the injection moulding machine in the form of flakes.
Finally, the winner of the Plastics Recycling Ambassador accolade was Manfred Hackl, CEO of EREMA Group, described by judges as the face of the industry’s technology leader.
All winners receive a trophy featuring 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’ve seen the number and quality of the submissions rise significantly again this year. It’s very encouraging to see the growing use of recycled content in more and more products,” said Ton Emans, president of Plastics Recyclers Europe. “These awards exemplify how well everyone from major brands and material producers through machinery makers are collaborating to improve recycling throughout the plastic value chain.”
Matt Barber, global events director at Crain Communications, added, “In the six years these awards have been running, it has been so pleasing to follow the advances that are being made in the recycling of plastics for high quality, branded consumer goods in everyday use.”
The Plastics Recycling Awards Europe are organised jointly by Plastics Recyclers Europe and Crain Communications, organisers of PRSE.
