As the European Commission prepares to impose stricter regulations on packaging waste, forward-thinking manufacturers are looking for innovative ways to increase the use of recycled materials and improve the recyclability of their products. This is where Walki’s Lamibel®Recycled comes in.
Made of up to 70% post-consumer recycled material, Lamibel®Recycled is Walki’s non-food monomaterial packaging product that has been designed for consumers seeking to reduce their use of virgin plastic.
Juan Pedro Hernández
Responsable de ventas del suroeste, Films & Bags de Walki Group
Unlike other non-food packaging products, which use only 30 to 50% recycled material taken mainly from industrial processes, Lamibel®Recycled is made with the help of citizen participation.
We transform post-consumer plastic waste into valuable objects, using recycled materials to create high-quality packaging
Packaging in Europe must be recyclable
The European Commission’s Circular Economy Action Plan is one of the key components of the European Green Deal. It includes a revision of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (PPWD) that seeks to ensure that all the packaging on the EU market will be “recyclable or reusable in an economically viable way by 2030”.
Juan Pedro Hernández explains that flexible packaging products made from fully recyclable monomaterials – like Lamibel®Recycled – are set to play an important part in achieving the ambitious European goals.
Made at Walki Plasbel’s plant in Murcia, Spain, Lamibel®Recycled is primarily used to package non-food household products like toilet rolls, hand rolls and hand towels.
Recycling consumer plastic waste
The post-consumer material used to make Lamibel®Recycled typically comes from three main sources: stretch film for pallet wrapping, PE packaging material, and film used to bundle bottles, cans and Tetra Briks. These products are all collected by Walki Plasbel’s certified suppliers from supermarkets, warehouses, shops and so on. They then go through a careful selection process through which the materials suitable to continue into the production process are identified.
“When the raw material reaches Walki Plasbel, we proceed to certification, testing and in-depth control to verify its compliance with regulatory, technical and legal specifications before it’s integrated into the production process,” continues Hernández, who explains that, once the material has been verified, the transformation process can begin at Walki Plasbel’s extrusion plant.
“And this is how every-day plastic waste is processed into Lamibel®Recycled,” he adds.
A true circular economy
In addition to being made of up to 70% recycled material, Lamibel®Recycled, being a monomaterial, is also a fully recyclable.
“By being both recycled and recyclable, this material enables a true circular economy,” Hernández says, adding: “It is a reflection both of the commitment of regular citizens who collect and recycle the plastic they consume, and our pledge to minimize raw material use and create top-quality products for the future.”
