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CIRCULAR ECONOMY
PET packaging plays a crucial role in food preservation, both in terms of safety and hygiene as well as minimization of food waste. A sustainable future isn’t possible without PET packaging. For this reason, Evertis has focused on a circular economy for PET since our foundation. It’s in our DNA.
Evertis envisions a future with increased use of recycled content in our films, greater recyclability of our products and lowest feasible carbon footprint where our group plays a leading role in sensitizing our communities to the benefits of recycling PET and advancing a closed loop economy.
Evertis films target 50% recycled content and 100% recyclability.
Going beyond assessing products and material flows, this company-level tool reveals the extent to which a company has achieved circularity across its entire operations.
Our Chief Product Officer and our Head of Marketing & Sustainability share their insights on the circularity of PET trays through tray-to-tray recycling, eco-design and the importance of cross-section collaboration in the PET industry.
Our sales teams focus on guiding customers in terms of product eco design, balancing sustainability and package functionality.
At Evertis we focus on the 3 R’s:
At Evertis we work together with our customers to reduce film thickness, thereby optimizing packaging weight, to keep it as resource efficient as possible while ensuring protection and fitness for use. We advise our customers in terms of the protective value afforded of the packaged good which supports product quality, or food safety and guarantees that the new package meets quality and technical expectations. Evertis has proven that recycled content is not a limiting factor in reducing material thickness.
Apart from lightweight packaging, Evertis encourages customers to eliminate or reduce secondary packaging which is often unnecessary and not environmentally friendly.
Lightweight packaging means fewer trucks needed to ship the same number of products, helping to:
Watch our video and find out how we give PET packaging a new life.
At Evertis we give post-industrial and post-consumer multilayer trays another life. We prove that a circular economy for trays is a reality through the partnership we’ve formed together with a company with a unique technology that permits incorporating recycled PET, obtained from a delamination process of multilayer waste, to be reintroduced as secondary raw material in our film production processes. Thanks to this, Evertis supports the European Plastics Strategy, which establishes that 10 million recycled tons must be incorporated into new products in the European Union market in 2025.
Consolidating a Circular Economy
model in the PET food industry
RETRAY is the ECOSENSE Foundation’s certification scheme to consolidate a circular economy model in the value chain of PET film, and thermoformed PET packaging, by certifying the recycled content included in film production within one year. RETRAY’s certificate emphasizes traceability of recycled content, specifying how much is incorporated from the tray recycling stream, and other sources, hence verifying Evertis commitment to closing the loop of PET trays.
RETRAY Process is a replacement of the ECOSENSE certification, expanding its requirements to incorporate those included in the UNE-EN 15343. Evertis had the ECOSENSE certificate since 2019, for our facilities in Portugal, and in 2022 we took advantage of its renewal to carry out the audit to obtain the RETRAY Process certification.
Learn more here about the recyclability of PET food trays according to the Ecosense Foundation.
Drive a circular economy for PET packaging by repurposing “waste” into food-grade PET flake to unleash the potential of a closed loop industry through:
Sensitising consumers and policy makers on the imperative of strengthening the recycling system;
Partnering with waste management entities to enhance the quality and identification of additional PET streams;
Developing the most sustainable technologies to optimise recyclability levels;
Supporting packaging producers to develop more circular products while preserving food safety.
All packaging materials, after purpose, will no longer be considered waste, but rather a valuable resource which can be recycled again and again.
Through our mechanical recycling process, we convert waste material into “new” raw material, without changing the basic structure.
The total production of our recycling plant represents 55% of Evertis’ flake consumption for film manufacturing.
At times we have recovered a volume of
bottle bales equivalent to 90% of PET
bottles of the Portuguese waste stream
At our Industrial Site in Portugal, Evertis, Selenis (sister-company) and Renascis, are circularly integrated. As an integrated recycler, specialty polyester and multilayer barrier film producer, we have created synergies that translate into a lower carbon footprint thanks to the reduction of raw materials transportation costs.
POLYESTER FLAKES
PET BASED FILMS
SPECIALTY POLYESTER
Our recycling plant, Renascis, is RecyClass Recycling Process certified, demonstrating the quality of our processes and transparently communicating the origin of waste.
Recyclass certifications are the seal of approval that our products are a fit for circularity and compliance.
Benefits of the certification
The Audit Scheme requirements are aligned with those of EN 15343:2007 and ISO 22095:2020 standards.
Through Evertis’ advanced processes, we reuse all internal scrap of multilayer and single layer products, allowing us to claim: “All Evertis plants create zero landfilled scrap”. Evertis’ strict waste management system and reuse policy allows us to meet this objective and reincorporate 100% of waste produced in extrusion and slitting processes. This also includes scrap produced during equipment changeovers, machine stops and restarts.
Evertis’ philosophy to reuse resources is key to the group’s constant focus on recycling. It’s our belief that recycling is a great waste-management strategy, whereby environmental impact and resource depletion are reduced. With our principles based on high levels of recycling, at Evertis we pair our reuse and remanufacturing efforts to reduce levels of material usage and energy. Within this framework of sustainable development, Evertis is not only providing a partial solution to solid waste problems, but also contributing to reduction of energy and raw petrochemicals consumption.
Evertis promotes the use of pallets produced with 100% recycled HDPE, with the objective of contributing towards a circular economy. The enduring commitment to sustainability comes from business practices that reduce negative impact on the environment; hence we believe this is also the ideal solution for our customers in the long-term.
These pallets are ideal for pooling as our company logo can be added to distinguish them from others. Additionally, we have a pooling system in place resulting in an 88% pallet return and reuse rate in 2022 - more than a 4% improvement from 2021.
We take our reuse policy down to the smallest details as we also use reuse cores that are fit for use and resell to our supplier those that are not in perfect condition.
Evertis is fully committed to a circular economy. We were pioneers in the inclusion of recycled content in our films, with our own recycling unit as of 2002, and increased the recyclability of our products, through a partnership for tray-to-tray recycling since 2019.
At Evertis we directly contribute to a circular economy as well as reducing our environmental footprint:
Do you want to explore further what we do to reduce our environmental footprint? Learn more in environment
In 2021, the Evertis Group incorporated a total of 31K tonnes of recycled content equivalent to:
Associations are becoming an increasingly a vital element for creating solutions that close the loop. At Evertis, we believe in close engagement and joining efforts with other partners. This helps expand our reach as we share resources and expertise, bringing long-term stability which is vital for a circular economy.
Evertis participates in various Working Groups with the objective of listening to a variety of perspectives, sharing experience and knowledge, brainstorming for generation of ideas and achieving a supportive collaboration. We are part of a communication taskforce that is working on a future communications campaign with the main objective that PET remains the material of choice for packaging. Evertis specifically contributes to the working groups that focus on:
Recycling PET thermoforms - Tray to Tray
PET monomer recycling special industry group
Working Group on opaque and functional bottles
Additionally, we have financially contributed to the campaign, together with several other members of Petcore Europe.
Evertis participates in several Working Groups that promote and support activities that contribute to a circular economy. Additionally, we influence EPRs to promote a tray-to-tray recycling stream.
Founded by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the Plastics Pact is a network of global initiatives that gather all strategic stakeholders, at national or regional level, to implement solutions towards a circular economy for plastics. The pacts are based on the idea of a common vision for plastics that will accelerate the transition to a closed loop economy for plastics, referred to as a New Plastics Economy.
Evertis is a founding member of the Portuguese, U.S. and Mexico Plastics Pact. Each initiative is led by a local organisation and unites governments, businesses, and citizens behind the common vision with a concrete set of ambitious local targets.
Evertis is a founding member of the European Plastics Pact, which aims to accelerate the shift towards the reuse and recycling of single-use plastic products and packaging.
Evertis contributed to the creation of the EPP Roadmap, aligned with existing European initiatives such as the UN Global Partnership on Marine Litter, the Basel Convention, the national Plastics Pacts, the global commitment from Ellen Mac Arthur foundation and the European Commission’s Circular Plastic Alliance.
Additionally, Evertis participates in several working groups in order to:
COOPERATE across the value chain on a European scale to boost the development of smarter techniques and approaches, and cement an innovative community;
HARMONIZE guidelines, standards and national supporting frameworks. Countries will take on current legal barriers, creating a level playing field and building scale;
CONNECT to share their best practices and lessons learned across Europe in meetings, annual progress reports and on the website, in order to accelerate the shift to circularity by default.
Evertis is a signatory member of the Circular Plastics Alliance, which, supported by the European Commission, endorses the ambitious target that by 2025 at least 10 million tons of recycled plastics should find their way into products and packaging in Europe each year.
Evertis joined ANIPAC, the Mexican National Association of the Plastic Industry, present throughout the supply chain for over 60 years. Their goal is to promote the competitiveness and sustainability of the plastics industry, in harmony with the environment and the community. ANIPAC carries out actions supported by ethics and dialogues, as well as specialised services to its associates. Evertis contributes through participating in working groups focused on integral development of the productive chain of the plastics industry.
Evertis is a proud member of ABIPLAST, the Brazilian Plastic Industry Association, that has supported for more than five decades, the plastic transformation and recycling industries. Evertis participates in industry workshops, seminars and trade shows, as well as counting on the association’s support and monitorization of our commitment to the Operation Clean Sweep.
Through our sister company Selenis, our Group is a member of the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR). Through this alliance we enhance plastic recycling by improving quality and increasing supply through technical resources, testing programs, design solutions, corporate training, regulatory leadership and educational programs.
PIEP is an initiative of the plastics and molds sector that collaborates with the University of Minho, through the Department of Polymer Engineering (DEP-UM) and IAPMEI. Through our sister company, Selenis, our Group is a member of this initiative. The main objectives of PIEP, amongst others, are:
Strengthen the competitiveness of the plastics and molds industry, through the development of proprietary technologies and the conception of innovative products.
Promote a culture and an effective practice of R&D practices.
Show the national endogenous capacity to respond, in useful time, to specific innovation challenges.
Explore more, about our partnerships.
Evertis believes the benefits of PET are often under-rated and misjudged. In a world where citizens and consumers are constantly bombarded by information, there is confusion around PET and its role. This has led us to take a role in sensitizing our communities through educational programs developed by our team, as well as through contributions to communication campaigns such as Positively PET and Recycle the One.
Evertis commits to communicating credible, evidence-based and solutions-oriented information on PET and recycling. By giving consumers clearer information, we can educate them on the purpose and benefits of PET packaging and how and what can be recycled.
We are proud of our Eco-bricks partnership with Sol Pacífico Foundation, an excellent initiative to promote sustainability and reduce plastic waste. Recycling awareness for kids is essential to build a more sustainable future and create a generation of environmentally conscious individuals. By teaching them about recycling, we can empower them to take action and make a positive impact on the environment.
PET has unique and versatile characteristics that no other material can match.
At Evertis we do our part in passing the message:
