Corenso United has brought into use a unique liquid packaging recycling plant. First in the world, the plant allows aluminium, wood fibre and plastics to be recycled into a number of different products with ease.

To date, only one in every five liquid packages is re-cycled. This is because the packages contain many materials in addition to wood fibre, such as plastic and aluminium. The latter has been especially difficult to recycle. But Corenso's new recycling plant allows aluminium and a host of other materials to be recycled into a number of different products with ease, making the plant unique in the world.

The recycling of paper and board packaging can now increase in Finland, as Corenso has said it is willing to increase its recycling of used packages. The company, which is the world 's second largest producer of coreboard, invested EUR 34 million in the new recycling plant at Varkaus in Eastern Finland. The fibre extracted from cartons and other paper and board packaging is used to make coreboard, which in turn is the raw material for production cores and tubes for paper and textile rolls.

More than 50 per cent of the plant's raw material consists of so-called "multi-material " packaging. The plant can also recycle the aluminium contained in these packages. Wood fibre is used for cores, plastic is converted into energy and aluminium is made into an aluminium powder for industrial use. The approx. 3,000 tons of aluminium produced each year are sold to industry.

Used liquid packages from Germany

Corenso currently uses about 170,000 tons of recycled fibre each year. Of this, nearly 50,000 tons consists of milk and juice cartons from Germany. Over a third of the liquid packages recovered in Germany end up at Corenso 's Varkaus plant. Nearly all of the packages from Germany contain aluminium.

The Varkaus plant recycles 90,000 tons of used materials per year. Half of this are liquid packages and the rest is industrial wrapping and corrugated board. Corenso's plant in Pori, in Western Finland, recycles about 75,000 tons of used materials. Of this 45 per cent is corrugated board and the rest industrial waste and liquid packaging.

Corenso is a company owned by the Finnish forestry giants Stora Enso and UPM-Kymmene.

www.corenso.com

 Source: Stora Enso