Brothers Drinks makes big savings with PET liner recycling scheme

In 2014, Avery Dennison expanded its PET liner recycling program with the addition of a new collection facility for brand owners in the UK and Ireland, with waste PET liners able to be sold directly to PET UK in Dumfries, Scotland. Brothers Drinks was one of the first brands to join the recycling scheme, and started shipping its PET liner for recycling on a regular basis in July of that year. In the following 12 months, approximately 50 tons of PET liner has gone from Somerset to Scotland, and saved from incineration the waste liner from more than 1.5 million sq m of labels, and yielded enough PET resin to make almost 2 million microwave trays.

Peter Faxholm, operations manager at Brothers Drinks, said: ‘We estimate that we have saved around 6-8,000 GBP (9-12,000 USD) by taking part in this program. More importantly, we are able to save significant amounts of carbon dioxide emissions by having our PET liner recycled and turned into a resource, instead of incinerated. From both business and brand value perspectives, this program is a real winner.’

Xander van der Vlies, sustainability director for Avery Dennison, said that the PET UK recycling scheme is one part of a much wider global effort to meet the company’s 2025 sustainability goals, which include a target of eliminating 70 percent of matrix and liner waste from the value chain. ‘Avery Dennison Materials Group is collaborating with customers across every market. For example, we have a recycling scheme with Smurfit Kappa in Germany, UK and Benelux for silicone-coated papers and a waste conversion program with Tramonto Antonio in Italy. Our work with PET UK makes an important contribution to our ongoing efforts – and we are determined to meet our 2025 sustainability goals and minimize environmental impacts.’

PET Processors UK was purchased from Diefenthal by Norman Currie and renamed Polymer Extrusion Technologies (UK) in December 2014. The company’s commercial director, John Currie, said that the end product from the scheme is a valuable raw material. ‘Instead of these PET liners going to a general waste bin, for disposal, at a cost to Brothers Drinks of approximately £120 per ton, it becomes a raw material for our plant in Dumfries to produce new PET resin granulate. This resin becomes a feedstock for the production of items such as PET staple fiber, strapping or thermoformable sheets, used for the production of microwave trays.’