Material recycling showcasing at Ecomondo
In order for a product, and consequently the material it is made of, to be recycled, there must be supply chains capable of collecting the product at the end of its life, possibly disassemble it, recycle the materials and finally reintroduce the materials thus obtained into the production cycle. All these steps require specific and diversified technical, regulatory, commercial and industrial skills depending on the sector, which Ecomondo hosted by bringing together in the same place different solutions for the construction and management of these supply chains.
First of all, the recycling consortia: a collective model that is part of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system and which is based on the creation of consortia of producers, in which projects are typically financed by a tax or a volunteer contribution. Already adopted in various sectors, from packaging, to WEEE, to waste oils and much more, it is a system that is taken as a model for the construction of supply chains also in other sectors, such as construction, fashion or furniture.
Ecomondo then presented a large showcase made up of the many companies that operate in the recycling sector and that constitute its fundamental backbone, such as consultants, logistics managers, transformers, up to the manufacturers of machinery used for the various activities of collection, separation, sorting, cleaning and transformation of waste into secondary raw material.
At Ecomondo we also saw many finished materials, the result of these processes.
From the wood supply chain, the major producers of chipboard panels with post-consumer recycled content with certified supply chains, such as the Saviola Group. Some producers have also presented, among the experimental solutions, the use of alternative biomass within the panel, such as coffee waste.
In the paper sector, Lucart was among the most advanced players in the production of paper for domestic use, which dedicated its stand to the EcoNatural project. It is a paper+dispenser system derived from the recycling of multilaminated beverage cartons. Lucart recycles beverage containers by separating them into their components: from cellulose fibers it generates Fiberpack®, with which it produces paper, from aluminum and polyethylene it creates Al.Pe.®, a printable composite with which it makes dispensers.
Finally, there will also be a lot of space for the R-plastics sector, from machinery manufacturers to suppliers of finished products in granules. A preview of the theme of the 2024 edition, which will be entirely dedicated to the Plastic Value Chain.
