Report on ALPLA Group Plants Affirms Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Benefits of PET, HDPE Recycling

ALPLA Group, a plastics recycler and packaging manufacturer, announced the results of life cycle assessments conducted by c7-consult. The analysis looked at data from four ALPLA recycling facilities, two in Germany and two in Mexico. Results confirm the carbon emissions reduction potential of recycled plastics and the importance of bottle-to-bottle recycling.

According to the company, 30,000 tons of rHDPE are produced per year at its Toluca recycling plant in Mexico. Production in Toluca causes 0.69 kg of CO₂e (CO₂ equivalent emissions) per kilogram. This is 70% fewer emissions than with HDPE virgin material (2.32 kg of CO₂e per kilogram average according to Ecoinvent data).

ALPLA has been operating its plant in Toluca since 2005 within the joint venture IMER (Industria Mexicana de Reciclaje S.A. de C.V.) together with Coca-Cola FEMSA and The Coca-Cola Company. It has an annual production capacity of 16,000 tons of rPET. According to the analysis, production there causes only 0.38 kg of CO₂e per kilogram, which is 87% less than virgin PET (2.90 kg of CO₂e per kilogram). The company plans to increase its capacity to 51,000 tons of rPET next year. The PLANETA plant (Planta Nueva Ecología de Tabasco) in Cunduacán is currently being built in cooperation with Coca-Cola FEMSA.

ALPLA has capacity to produce 43,000 tons of rPET per year in Germany. Materials sourced from household recyclables collection are processed at the site in Bitterfeld-Wolfen, Saxony-Anhalt. Recycling PET bottles from household collection leads to a slightly higher energy requirement for washing. For example, Bitterfeld-Wolfen causes 0.93 kg of CO₂e per kilogram of rPET. This means the recycled material still produces 68% fewer emissions than virgin material. At the PET recycling site in Bad Salzuflen, North Rhine-Westphalia, it is just 0.68 kg of CO₂e per kilogram, which corresponds to a reduction of 77%.