Growing amounts of plastic waste and marine litter, and their impact on human health and the environment, are among the biggest environmental concerns of Europeans.
Approximately 74% of Europeans are worried about the impact of plastics on their health, and 87% are worried about the impact on the environment. Still more than 70% of plastic waste today is put in landfills or incinerated according to the European strategy for plastics.
March 18th is global recycling day
Woodly encourages everyone to take further action in the active recycling of plastic packages! Try it! You will see that it probably is the biggest share of the waste you produce at home.
Packaging is a modern all-rounder! Packages protect the product, make it optimally available and inform the consumer. It is hard to imagine our lives without packaging. However, packaging often only accompanies us for a short time and should be recycled after use, because it contains valuable materials. About two-thirds of plastic waste comes from packaging. The European Commission has launched a European plastic strategy, which is aimed at reducing environmental problems caused by plastics.
Reusable or recyclable by 2030
The European Commission set itself the goal that at least 50% of all plastic packaging waste will be recycled by 2025, and to reach 55% by 2030. The Commission also wants to ensure that all plastic packaging on the EU market will be either reusable or recyclable by 2030. Today we circulate approximately 20 % of the plastic packages back to new products.
Meeting these targets in practice will need improvements in the way plastics are designed, produced, collected and sorted. Through sustainable packaging design, wise selection of packaging materials and with the help of the circular economy, the consumption of non-renewable raw materials can be reduced. In addition, increased cooperation between everyone involved in the packaging life cycle is needed as well as major investments throughout the entire plastics (recycling) value chain.
Redesigning Plastics
Woodly has redesigned plastics and created a path for the plastics industry towards a sustainable future with our unique material – Woodly. Our material is wood-based, carbon-neutral, transparent and recyclable plastic. It is an ideal material for sustainable packaging.
Woodly® is designed to be recycled in the plastic recycling stream after being used. Woodly can be recycled both mechanically and chemically. During mechanical recycling, the plastic is shredded, washed, melted, and granulated. The granules resulting from this process are used as a raw material for new plastic products.
The recyclability of Woodly waste films has been demonstrated with Next Generation Recyclingmaschinen GmbH (NGR), a leading technology and equipment provider for the plastics recycling industry. Woodly has maintained its mechanical and physical properties identical after five cycles of recycling. Woodly films can be recycled back to film, or to injection molding grades or vice versa.