Stora Enso and Tetra Pak are joining forces to explore the possibility of building a new recycling line to significantly increase the recycling of used beverage cartons in Central and Eastern Europe.
The two partners are initiating a feasibility study to assess the viability of building a large-scale recycling line for Used Beverage Cartons (UBC) at Stora Enso’s Ostrołęka mill in Poland. In the model Stora Enso would pulp and separate the fibers from used beverage cartons at its Ostrołęka mill and use the recycled fibres as a raw material, while Tetra Pak would secure the recycling and reuse of polymers and aluminium which shall be processed by a dedicated partner. If realised, the annual capacity of the new recycling line would be 50,000 tonnes of UBC. This would be a significant increase in recycling capacity for beverage cartons across Europe, boosting the European beverage carton recycling rate from the current 51%. In the first stage the recycled post-consumer beverage carton material would come from countries in Central and Eastern Europe.
The feasibility study is expected to be completed in six months, after which the possible decisions about the project and timeline would be confirmed.
