NEWS Cedo plans film plant closure
Long-established plastics recycler Cedo Recycling is planning to gradually stop operations at its Geleen site in the Netherlands later this year. The company, part of the Cedo film and flexible packaging group, said in a statement that the “decision is being considered due to ongoing market challenges, rising operational costs, and increasing regulatory pressures, which have impacted the site’s long- term viability”. The plant began opera- tions in 1979 with an initial focus on recycling clothes, before expanding to include PP caps, crates and PS cups and then, in 1985, becom- ing the first plant in Europe to recycle PET bottles. Since then Cedo has built the plant’s capability for recycling post-consumer PE flexible films, particularly from household packaging, which it says is widely regarded as the most problematic plastic waste.
The Geleen plant is Europe’s largest plastic film recycling centre with the capacity to process more than 80,000 tonnes/yr of plastics waste into recycled granules
point,” said PRE in a state- ment. “A sharp decline in domestic production, increased imports, and rising economic pressures are forcing company closures. The industry has long warned of these risks, and today they are unfolding with severe consequences across the entire value chain.” Increasing plastic waste
According to the Cedo
Recycling website, the Geleen plant is Europe’s largest plastic film recycling centre with the capacity to process more than 80,000 tonnes/yr of plastics waste into recycled granules. Its output is used to produce refuse sacks at the group’s facilities in Poland and the UK.
Cedo Recycling said in its
statement that it will engage in discussions with employ- ee representatives before it makes a final decision “at a
later stage” about closing the Geleen plant. “Despite these challenges, Cedo remains dedicated to sustainability and, in any case, will continue its recycling efforts at other locations across Europe,” the company said. Industry body Plastics
Recyclers Europe has highlighted the dire position that plastics recycling companies are finding themselves in. “The Euro- pean Union’s plastic recy- cling industry is at a breaking
Breakthrough claimed in PVDC barrier layer recycling
Syensqo has announced the results of trials that it says prove that multilayer food packaging structures with Ixan polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC) can be recycled into feedstock for other applica- tions within a standard polyethylene-based waste stream. PVDC is used as an oxygen and water vapour barrier in food packaging. The trials were conduct-
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ed by CSI, a provider of testing and certification services, and part of IMQ group. Tests were per- formed with structures for high-barrier meat packag- ing using PE/EVA/Ixan /EVA/ PE multilayer films, and the impact of the structures on the recycling process evaluated in comparison to a reference sample of real flexible packaging waste.
PLASTICS RECYCLING WORLD | March/April 2025 Federico Baruffi, Global
Marketing Manager Packag- ing at Syensqo, said multilayer films have a strong positive environmen- tal impact by reducing food waste. However, due to their particular composition and structures, they have previously been considered impractical for mechanical recycling. �
www.syensqo.com
exports from the EU (36% higher in 2024 compared to 2022) highlights “an alarming shift away from in-region recycling efforts”, said PRE. “These trends have resulted in the slowest plastic recycling capacity growth recorded in years, paired with the increasing closure of recycling facilities. The total capacity of facilities that shut down in 2024 doubled compared to 2023, and the situation is intensifying in 2025, impacting both small and large companies alike.” �
www.cedorecycling.nl �
www.plasticsrecyclers.eu
IN BRIEF...
Berry has released its 2024 Sustainability Report detailing its progress toward a circular, net-zero economy. The report shows purchases of post-consumer resin (PCR) increased by 43% year- over-year from 3.6% to 5.1% of total volume, while bioplastics purchases year-over-year increased from 0.6% to 1.5%. It also enhanced recyclability of key products.
www.berryglobal.com
www.plasticsrecyclingworld.com
IMAGE: CEDO
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