Recycling Success

Nature shows that closed cycles are effective. We for Recyclates applies this principle to the technical closed loop of plastic recycling. So far we have scored several successes. In material recycling, used PET packaging is turned into a PET bottle, HDPE packaging goes into making an HDPE bottle and a PP article becomes a PP cap. That’s real upcycling. At Werner & Mertz, millions of PET and HDPE bottles and PP caps, whose raw materials come from the Yellow Bag waste collection system, show how a genuine circular economy works. The utilized raw materials are maintained and the burden on the environment is eased on land and in the ocean.

The Recyclate Initiative is inspired by one of nature’s basic principles. It maintains that putting processes in closed cycles makes good ecological sense in general and for plastic waste in particular. “Recycling” is the name of this principle of continuous re-use. Nature produces no waste at all. In our forests, for example, the nutrients from leaves that fall in autumn are not lost but are returned to the soil. In a never-ending cycle, they form the basis for fresh green growth in the spring.

We for Recyclates is committed to genuine recycling. It can work only if packaging from the Yellow Bag too is put into a closed technical cycle. The success with PET, HDPE and PP shows that recycling works!

Whether or how well a product can be recycled after its useful life is determined in the early design phases. The product’s shape, purity of materials, types of connection (screwed, inserted, glued, etc.), labeling and other details have far-reaching consequences for its recyclability. In general, the more complex a product is, the greater the recycling effort.
Economical recycling of used products is not possible if they consist of a large material mix of inseparable types of plastics, if their caps and similar parts have been bonded, or if their labels are not completely removable. Therefore, the Recyclate Initiative from Werner & Mertz promotes Design for Recycling, also known as “ecodesign”, for packaging materials and product packaging.