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Closed-Loop: the Aliplast “recipe” for reusing plastic packaging
22 July 2020
Cutting costs while giving new life to plastic waste
There are two main benefits of the recycling economics achieved by Aliplast, a Gruppo Hera company and European leader in the production of flexible PE films, PET sheets and regenerated polymers.
The first, more immediate one, is about the ecosystem. The adoption of the circular model offered by the company leads to an indefinite extension of the lifespan of plastics, promoting its recovery and limiting its release into the environment. This leads to a considerable reduction of the potential pollution caused by this material, whose perception is also transformed, from problem to resource. The second benefit is of an economic nature and results from the adoption of a closed-loop process. Taking advantage of a closed-loop system can greatly optimize the costs of waste disposal, while also guaranteeing the continuous availability of quality-controlled material.
Closed-Loop’s virtuous circle
Designed for the treatment of special waste, that is, waste produced by companies, the Closed-Loop system is a vertical process for the recovery and recycling of plastics which consists of several stages. First, the waste is collected in the customer company’s production center and transported to one of Aliplast’s processing centers (the company has several facilities in Italy and branches in France, Spain, and Poland). Here the material is cleaned, ground and regenerated. The finished product that comes out of the process is a material comparable to virgin plastic in terms of quality and that can then be processed to obtain flexible PE films or can be kept in granules in order to be thermoformed at a later date, as necessary. Aliplast offers a turnkey service, taking care of the whole waste material processing cycle: from the collection of the disposed product at the customer company center to the delivery of regenerated material.
A picture of LDPE film processing in the Ospedaletto d'Istrana factory
When flexibility rhymes with quality: the example of the Modena district
The closed-loop processes designed by Aliplast boast great flexibility, to the point of meeting not only the needs of a single company, but of a whole industrial district.
An example is that of the Modena ceramic supply-chain. For product types and quality, this is a unique area in the world, with a high number of contractors who cover different process, such as the tile decoration stages. During the different phases of production, ceramic products are enclosed in inner and outer packaging, stored, and brought to the sub-contractors, where they are unpacked and, once treated, packed once again. This procedure leads to the production of high quantities of waste films that are recovered and processed by 300 presses installed by Aliplast in the region, and they are then handled by the Treviso plant. The resulting films are returned to the supply chain and used again for the inner and outer packaging of ceramics.
The benefit of working with Herambiente 
The closed-loop project fits perfectly with the offering aimed at companies from Herambiente - a Gruppo Hera company and the first national provider of waste treatment - and widens the portfolio of “green” solutions the company offers. In addition to having a series of technologically cutting-edge plants for waste disposal and recovery, Aliplast and Herambiente work hand in hand, sharing a unique wealth of expertise in the industrial waste industry. A wealth which is made available to our customers and offers real added value.
Find out what's on offer for your industrial waste from Herambiente
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