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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Berry Global Group,
Evansville, Indiana, has announced that Madrid-based Repsol, its longtime
supplier, will supply it with circular resins, according to Recycling Today.
The Spanish
multienergy global company will supply Berry with International Sustainability
and Carbon Certification (ISCC) Plus-certified circular polyolefins from its
Repsol Reciclex range. According to a news release from Berry Global, these
polyolefins are obtained by advanced recycling, enabled by the adoption of new
chemical recycling technologies, of postconsumer plastic scrap not suitable for
traditional recycling.
As a result of the agreement, Berry says it will
procure food-grade polypropylene (PP) for food and health care packaging. The
packaging company will initially use the materials in manufacturing at its
European packaging facilities.
Berry reports that Repsol has certified
all its petrochemical complexes to produce circular polyolefins under the ISCC
Plus certification, which guarantees the traceability of the plastic scrap used
at the source. At the same time, Repsol applies the latest technology to ensure
the circular polyolefins have the same quality as virgin polyolefins.
Additionally, Berry and Repsol deem advanced recycling “as complementary to
traditional mechanical recycling and as a critical component of their respective
circular economy strategies.”
“We continue to utilize new and innovative
methods to create more environmentally sustainable packaging and are proud to
partner with like-minded suppliers in these efforts,” says Jean-Marc Galvez,
president of Berry’s Consumer Packaging International division. “By recovering
and diverting plastic that would have otherwise been sent to landfill or
incineration, we are working towards our common goal of promoting a circular
economy.”
“At Repsol, we are continuously working on different
alternatives to offer our clients materials with recycled content that meet the
different demands for their specific markets, especially those for high added
value applications. With this recent alliance with Berry, we also reinforce our
ambition to recycle the equivalent of 20 percent of our polyolefins production,”
says Rafael Jimenez, Polyolefins Business Unit director at Repsol.
Berry
reports that it is ahead of schedule for its Impact 2025 sustainability
strategy. The company has set a goal of incorporating 10 percent recycled
content across its fast-moving consumer goods packaging. Repsol has also set a
target to become a net zero company by 2050 and has had a circular economy
strategy since 2016 that has been applied throughout its entire value
chain.
As MRC reported earlier,
Repsol shut down its cracker in Tarragona (Spain) for maintenance in the fourth
quarter of 2019. The turnaround at this steam cracker, which produces 702,000
mt/year of ethylene and 372,000 mt/year of propylene, was pushed back from Q3
2019. The exact dates of maintenance works were not disclosed.
Ethylene
and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE)
and PP.
According to MRC's DataScope report,
PE imports to Russia decreased in January-November 2020 by 17% year on year and
reached 569,900 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the
greatest reduction in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia
increased by 21% year on year to about 202,000 tonnes in the first eleven months
of 2020. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase
in imports.
Repsol S.A is an integrated Spanish oil and gas company with
operations in 28 countries. The bulk of its assets are located in
Spain. |
