NIVAPLAST becomes an ECOSENSE approved recovery operator of post-consumer PET trays

March 2021 – NIVAPLAST RECICLADOS S.L. achieves the approval for the ECOSENSE-RETRAY scheme for its facilities in Dolar (Granada, Spain) and joins the great commitment of the PET thermoformed packaging sector on the circular economy.

NIVAPLAST, company of the Sulayr Group, has an extensive experience in the recycling of PET bottles. The company’s plant located in Dolar (Granada) has been recovered the PET trays in an independent stream for several years, thus ensuring that the postconsumer trays reaches a closed recycling circuit, the tray-to-tray loop, and ensure material supply to be used by PET sheet producers.

In order to enhance its contribution to the tray-to-tray model, NIVAPLAST have undergone an inspection process by an entity accredited by ENAC under the ISO / EC 17020 standard to verify compliance with the requirements of the ECOSENSE-RETRAY  procedure for approved recovery operators established by the PLASTIC SENSE Foundation.

With its approval, NIVAPLAST contributes to consolidate a circular economy model in the sector of thermoformed PET containers. In this way, the availability of post-consumer PET thermoformed packaging waste is ensured for recycling and subsequent reincorporation in the manufacture of new PET trays. Thanks to this action, not only does it is prevented that the final destination of this type of waste was landfilling, but it is also reduced greenhouse gas emissions by using less energy and resources than if virgin plastic was used in the manufacture of the PET containers.

The final purpose of ECOSENSE is to increase the transformed volume of PET packaging waste that is subsequently incorporated into new trays, that is, in food applications with the same value as the original ones. Thus, it contributes to ensuring that 10 million tonnes of recycled plastics find their way into new products by 2025, according to the European Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy.