Mondi has improved the circularity of material flows in two release liner production sites in Germany and the Netherlands. 95% of the production waste is now used as secondary raw material for other industries, thanks to its strategic partnerships.
By collaborating closely with industry stakeholders along the value chain, Mondi has tackled the siliconised and coated paper waste produced at its release liner plants in Jülich, Germany, and Heerlen, Netherlands. It is now repulped and valorised as secondary raw material in a range of other applications.
Mondi Jülich and Mondi Heerlen kicked off a partnership with Veyzle, a Dutch specialist in the recycling of paper and plastics, and the Dutch site of the WEPA Group, an expert for sustainable hygiene papers, two years ago. Since then, Veyzle collects Mondi’s production waste from the two plants and sorts, shreds and bails the different papers before transporting them to WEPA. WEPA has developed an advanced repulping technology to valorise laminated and siliconised papers and uses them to create hygiene paper, such as toilet paper and paper towels. All three partners are located close together to keep transportation to a minimum.
In addition, Mondi is also working with Soprema, a full-range supplier of high-quality waterproofing systems and insulation materials, who uses Mondi’s release liner production waste as base material to manufacture cellulose wadding, a particularly beneficial insulation solution that increases the energy efficiency of buildings. This partnership ensures that valuable resources are not lost and contributes to Soprema’s sustainability goals of increasing the proportion of recycled materials and avoiding waste.
Carlos Martinez Ezquerra, Circular Economy Manager Flexible Packaging at Mondi, says, “At Mondi, we view waste as a loss in resources and have committed to eliminate waste from our production processes through our MAP2030 agenda. In this project, we aimed at using the production waste more effectively by valorising it as secondary raw materials in other applications. We are very proud of the 95% reduction we achieved at both locations and now look forward to working with CELAB, the leading industry initiative for the self-adhesive label value chain, and building relationships with other partners to further improve the circular flow of materials also in our other release liner locations across Europe.”
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