PARIS (Scrap Register): Paris based Suez Environment is starting a plastic recycling laboratory in France that aims to double its production of recycled plastics in five years.

The production of plastics in Europe has multiplied 150-fold over the last 50 years and is still on the increase, reaching 50 million tonnes a year today. Only 25% of the 25 million tonnes of plastic waste produced is recycled.

At the same time, current changes to the rules at both national and Community level are setting ambitious new recycling targets, in particular in relation to household packaging (80%), most of which is made of plastic.

In the face of dwindling natural resources and an increase in raw material prices, the production of recycled raw materials has become a real challenge for manufacturers. By integrating these into their production chain, manufacturers can increase their competitivity, anticipate the dwindling supplies of virgin materials and meet their customers’ growing expectations for green product ranges.

The recycling of plastics has therefore become a major economic and environmental challenge, due to the fact that the use of recycled plastic reduces energy consumption by 80% to 90% compared to the production of virgin plastic.

That is why Suez Environment is placing the circular economy at the heart of its strategy and innovating to speed up the recycling of plastics and meet the needs of manufacturers more effectively.

Through its subsidiary SITA, the Group has already a quality manufacturing tool in Europe capable of sorting and preparing over 400,000 tons of plastic waste each year, 135,000 tons of which are recycled by its nine specialist plants.