Plastic is a truly versatile product. On the one hand. On the other, huge volumes of crude oil – a natural resource – are needed to produce it. Which is precisely why it is essential that used plastic is recovered and returned to production cycles. Just one of the many tasks carried out at REMONDIS’ Lippe Plant.

The problem of plastics
Plastic has many advantages – and one big disadvantage: it is as good as non-degradable. Carelessly discarding it leads to huge environmental problems. On land and, above all, in our seas and oceans.

Material

Practically 100% of the plastic recycled at the Lippe Plant is consumer waste such as shampoo bottles and other types of packaging.

Recycling process

How plastic is recycled at REMONDIS’ Lippe Plant.

The benefits

Why plastics recycling at REMONDIS’ Lippe Plant is well worth its while.

The future

A look ahead at the next few years – at the Lippe Plant as well as at the area of plastics recycling legislation.

Bespoke compounds

We produce high quality recycled raw materials to meet our customers’ exact requirements.

Plastic waste in the environment – a major challenge

Plastic rules our everyday lives and can be found everywhere. Unfortunately also in places where it simply doesn’t belong. Plastic that is carelessly discarded rather than handed in for recycling causes irreparable damage to our natural environment. This is particularly obvious in our seas and oceans which have effectively become a massive bin for our plastic waste. Huge sections of our oceans are now covered in rubbish. Waste plastic has even found its way to the Arctic – where it was discovered for the first time in 2017. Perhaps what’s even worse is the impact plastic is having on our marine life. Being non-degradable, plastic disintegrates into tiny pieces which then find their way into the food chain via the fish and other animals living in the sea. Moreover, numerous seabirds are dying because they eat pieces of plastic which accumulate in their stomachs until there is no more room for food. These animals can starve as a result.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the most famous – or infamous – example of marine pollution. It covers an area four times larger than Germany

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Use less, recycle more (and better) – both count

- According to an EU directive, EU citizens should only be using, on average, 40 plastic bags a year by 2026. This figure lay at 176 in 2016
- Reducing plastic waste requires a range of measures. Firstly, consumers must make a conscious decision to produce less plastic waste – for example by choosing not to use plastic bags or to at least reuse them. Secondly, when a plastic product becomes waste, steps must be taken to ensure it is recycled so that it can be returned to production cycles. The Lippe Plant has been focusing on the latter for over 30 years now. With technologies it has been continuously developing and improving. For more and more products and for more and more types of plastic. And yet: it is still better to prevent plastic waste being produced in the first place rather than to recycle it. Why? No matter how efficiently the recycling process may be, it is always a case of downcycling. This means that, depending on the material and the process used, material quality may decrease with repeated recycling. Unlike metal, plastic cannot be recycled endlessly. This is one of the reasons why – besides consumers and recyclers – the manufacturers of plastic products must also take their share of responsibility. For example, when it comes to developing, adhering to and implementing ecodesign guidelines.
  
  Less plastic from the start – with sustainable ecodesigns
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Say “hi” to your yoghurt pot

Of all the facilities at the Lippe Plant, you are most likely to come face to face with your own rubbish here. A good three quarters of all the materials treated at the plastics recycling plant were once an everyday object – for example, a shampoo bottle, fruit and vegetable packaging or a plant pot.

Plastics recycling input material at the Lippe Plant
Bottles

Cosmetics
(shampoo, shower gel etc)
Food
(ketchup, mustard etc)
Cleaning products
(toilet cleaner, all-purpose cleaner etc)
Detergents
(fabric softener, liquid detergent etc)

Lids

Bottle tops from reverse vending systems

Jerrycans, drums, containers

Chemical industry
Manufacturers of cleaning products
Producers of fruit juice concentrate

Pots, trays

Fruit & vegetable trays
Yoghurt pots
Plant pots

Injection-moulded products

Meat & vegetable boxes
Drinks crates
Collapsible boxes
Large bins
Pallets

Pails

Paint pails
Large-scale food packaging
(ketchup container etc.)
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Plastic is not simply plastic

- Contact details and information about the company responsible for plastics recycling can be found at replano.com
- The shape and previous use of the incoming materials are of secondary importance. What is most important to us is what they are made of, i.e. exactly what type of plastic. At the Lippe Plant, we are able to recycle all conventional types of plastic and produce high quality compounds – mixtures of different materials. Less than ten percent of the input material is unable to be recycled at our facilities. These volumes are passed on to external companies or thermally treated at the Lippe Plant.
  
  The plastics recycling facility at the Lippe Plant produces pellets made of polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP) and – a recent addition – polystyrene (PS)
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From waste plastic to recycled material – in six steps

As plastic is recycled in a fully enclosed facility at the Lippe Plant, it is not possible for visitors to observe the individual stages of the treatment process. All they can see are the pellets, i.e. the finished product. We would, however, like to give you the opportunity to take a look at how the production process works – in front of your screen and free of odour and noise pollution. An important step is still missing here, however, as it doesn’t take place in the facility: all incoming material is inspected as soon as it arrives at the Lippe Plant. The company responsible for doing this is Umwelt Control Labor which is also based at the site.

The individual stages of the recycling process

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An important raw material for plastics processors

There are a whole range of reasons why industrial businesses choose to use our recycled plastics rather than virgin plastic. One of these is our compounding process which enables us to design products to meet our customers’ precise requirements. Thanks to our state-of-the-art facility and our know-how, we are able to produce all types of plastic compound so that they have the technical properties that our customers need for their production processes. The same is true for the colour of the pellets – our customers can be as imaginative as they want to be. What’s more, our recycled plastics cost far less than virgin plastic and yet are still of the same high quality.

Our recycled plastics are used to make a whole range of different products – for example, for the construction, packaging and automobile industries. Garden furniture is also made from recycled plastic

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Four effects of plastics recycling

Plastics recycling can contribute to resource efficiency in various ways. Four key aspects can be distinguished. The underlying principle is that using recycled plastics can help reduce the need for fossil raw materials such as crude oil.

Using recycled plastics can reduce the need for crude oil as a raw material for plastics production. This may also reduce the need for upstream extraction and transport processes.

Environmental benefits of plastics recycling
- Resource use
  Using recycled plastics can help reduce the need for virgin plastics made from fossil raw materials.
- Reducing consumption of land
  The less crude oil that needs to be extracted as a primary raw material, the less land is needed to refine and transport it.
- Reducing consumption of energy
  Recycling plastics may require less energy than producing equivalent virgin plastics.
- Reducing carbon emissions
  Depending on the type of plastic and the recycling process used, the production of recycled plastics may be associated with lower greenhouse gas emissions than the production of equivalent virgin plastics.
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Things are moving quickly

The growing importance of plastics recycling is also reflected in the legal framework. The German Packaging Act, which has been in force since 2019, has further developed the requirements for the take-back and recovery of packaging. Its aim is to ensure that packaging waste is collected separately and sent for recycling. At the same time, the Act strengthens extended producer responsibility and creates incentives for recycling-friendly product design and the use of recycled materials. Plastics recycling will therefore continue to gain in importance in the future.

The volume of waste packaging in Germany increased from 15.1 million tonnes to 18.2 million tonnes between 2009 and 2015 – and continues to rise

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A new plant to improve synergies

- Find out all about WEEE recycling at the Lippe Plant
- The plastics recycling operations at the Lippe Plant are continuously being further developed to ensure they are well prepared for the future. One of its latest projects has been to build a plant dedicated to sorting plastics. This enables the material arriving at the site to be recycled better. At the same time, the new plant is helping to further extend and strengthen synergies at the Lippe Plant. Thanks to the new sorting technology, we are able to dovetail the WEEE recycling and plastics recycling operations. Plastic residue from the former can be passed on to the latter – providing the supply chain at the Lippe Plant with a further important link.
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