EPRO unveils plastic recycling award nominees

The European Association of Plastics Recycling (EPRO) has announced the finalists for its plastic recycling Innovation and Sustainability awards, which have been awarded every two years since 2009 by EPRO.

The awards are designed to showcase innovation and sustainability in recycled plastic products. This year, they will be awarded at the 2019 IdentiPlast Conference dinner in London on March 7, 2019. The winning entries will be presented their trophies (made from recycled plastic yogurt containers) by PlasticsEurope President Javier Constante from Dow.

Entries from the awards finalists will be displayed at the IdentiPlast Conference, and an online voting system has been set up to enable voting by industry peers and conference delegates.

Says Peter Sundt, EPRO general secretary, “The EPRO best recycled plastic product awards is a key activity from our side with the aim to increase the use of recycled material from used plastic packaging and thus lead us closer to a circular society for plastics. At the same time, we intend to honor the teams and organizations behind the projects as well as promoting all the products taking part and hope that these examples can stimulate others to do the same in order to keep the plastics in the loop rather than dispose it after first use.”

Sundt says EPRO received 47 entries from 11 countries, and that the contest’s judges commented that it had been an extremely difficult task selecting nine finalists, with entries that all demonstrated a commitment to pushing the boundaries of recycled plastic applications. 

“These products, which represent huge amounts of recycled plastics, can serve as ambassadors for a circular economy,” says Sundt. “EPRO thanks all the participants for taking part and wish them good luck with their products in the market.”

Stuart Foster, CEO of RECOUP (which consists of United Kingdom-based EPRO members), comments, “There remains a need to continue stimulation of recycling levels and the demand and appetite for the design and manufacture of such products. It is only through market forces’ drive for recyclate that the industry can ensure its future success. These awards further highlight that plastic is a circular resource – something that is critical to our planet’s survival.”

The 2019 finalists for the EPRO Sustainability award are: Mappy Italia SpA (Italy); Orkla Home & Personal Care (Norway); Ecoplen Srl (Italy); Multiport GmbH (Germany); and RPC M&H Plastics (U.K.)

The Innovation award finalists are Barbier (France); RPC bpi (U.K.); Alpla Werke/Alwin Lehner GmbH & Co KG (Austria); and G2B srl (Italy).