Extrusion International 1-2024-USA

23 Extrusion International 1/2024 Focus on Recycling  The international ALPLA Group is presenting its fifth sustainability report under the motto ‘What we do matters’. In it, the packaging and recycling specialist analyses the financial years 2021 and 2022 and focuses on the three pillars of „Peo- ple“, „Planet“ and „Profitability“. ALPLA is on track in spite of growth and global expansion thanks to en- ergy efficiency measures and invest - ments in the circular economy. The proportion of recycled material was increased from 16 per cent to 18 per cent between 2021 and 2022 and is expected to reach at least 25 per cent by 2025. The report focuses on business- relevant issues such as climate pro- tection, resource efficiency, equal opportunity, and legal and regu- latory changes. Data, charts and examples document the progress made and show where there is po- tential. „Every day, we champion solutions that promote safe, afford- able and sustainable life around the world. With more than three billion people coming into contact with our products every day, we are as- suming the great responsibility that comes with our mission,“ emphasis- es ALPLA CEO Philipp Lehner. High-quality data forms the ba- sis for targeted climate protection measures. ALPLA has developed a detailed calculation of the carbon footprint for all the regions, plants and divisions. The carbon footprint is to be further reduced by mak- ing increased use of renewable energy and with initiatives to pro- mote the circular economy. These include lightweight packaging, in- house production directly at the customer’s premises, investments in state-of-the-art recycling plants and innovative projects with plastic alternatives. Energy consumption remained constant in 2021 and 2022 despite the growing material needs. The share of renewable energy was in- creased by one percentage point from 2021 to 2022 to the current level of 22 per cent. Numerous plants in Austria, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Mexico, Costa Rica and Panama are already run entirely on renewable energy and more sites are scheduled to follow in the coming years. In line with the Ellen MacAr- thur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy Global Commitment, ALPLA intends to be using at least 25 per cent recycled materials in its packaging by 2025. In 2021, 282,050 tonnes of recycled mate- rial were used, equating to around 16 per cent of the material needs. By 2022, this had already gone up to 327,520 tonnes or 18 per cent of the total needs. Increasingly re- cycling used plastics is an impor- tant lever for reducing greenhouse gases and will be further promoted through investments in recycling. ALPLA Group www.alpla.com www.sustainability- report21-22.alpla.com ALPLA realizes safe, affordable and sustainable plastic packaging solutions (Pictures, Copyright: ALPLA) www.sml.at Extrusion lines. Engineered to perform. Universally applicable – Optimised for your needs. No matter if you are manufacturing metallised standard food and non-food packaging, easy-to-recycle stand-up pouches from MOPE film or technical products, SML's cast film lines are always optimised for your specific requirements. Learn more about SML's cast film lines.