A sustainable plastic toothbrush and a recycled plastic wine bottle are among the innovative products in the running for this year’s Best Recycled Plastic Product Innovation and Sustainability in Plastics Recycling awards.

The awards, organised the European Association of Plastics Recycling and Recovery Organisations (EPRO), have been held every two years since 2009 and recognise the very best in innovation and sustainability in recycled plastic products.

The winners of the 2019 awards – one for sustainability and one for innovation – will be announced at the IdentiPlast 2019 conference in London on 7 March. Recipients of the awards will have their product showcased throughout Europe and will receive trophies made from recycled yoghurt pots from PlasticsEurope president, Javier Constante.

Spanish company Roofeco Systems were the last winners at the awards, bringing home the 2017 trophy for their sustainable roof tiles. The winning product demonstrated the environmental benefits of using recycled plastics as opposed to traditional methods of manufacturing roof tiles.

After whittling down the 47 entries from 11 countries for this year’s awards, the nominees for the Sustainability and Innovation awards are:

Sustainability award

• Mappy Italia SPA, for its thermo-acoustic composite insulation system with low environmental impact;
• Orkla Home & Personal Care, for its Jordan Green Clean toothbrush made from 100 per cent recycled plastics. The brush part itself is made from plant-based material, while the packaging is made of recycled cardboard;
• Ecoplen Srl, for its Technical and Ecological Bottle and Jerry Cans, which are made from 70 per cent recycled polyethylene;
• Multiport GmbH, for its MPO Kunststoffkabelkanal (MPO Plastic Cable Duct) sizes I and II; and
• RPC M&H Plastics, for its flat-profile wine bottle made from 100 per cent recycled PET for Garçon Wines.

Innovation award

• Barbier Group, for its packaging film made from 20 per cent recycled post-consumer plastic;
• RPC bpi, for its 100 per cent recyclable X-EnviroShrink wrap made with 30 per cent recycled plastic;
• Alpla Werke Alwin Lehner GmbH & Co KG, for its range of bottles known as The Simple One, which are made from up to 100 per cent recycled plastic and reduce material use by up to 60 per cent compared to conventional HDPE bottles; and
• G2B srl, for its ‘polyethylene-derivative’ silk obtained from the coccoons of the Galleria Mellonella wax moth, which are known to be able to digest polyethylene.

'Closer to a circular society for plastics'

Peter Sundt, EPRO General Secretary, said of the awards: "The EPRO best recycled plastic product awards is a key activity with the aim to increase the use of recycled material from used plastic packaging and thus lead us closer to a circular society for plastics. At the same time we intend to honour the teams and organisations behind the projects as well as promoting all the products taking part and hope that these examples can stimulate others to do the same in order to keep the plastics in the loop rather than dispose it after first use.

“In total we received 47 entries from 11 countries. These products that represent huge amounts of recycled plastics that can serve as ambassadors for a circular economy. EPRO thanks all the participants for taking part and wish them good luck with their products in the market.”

Stuart Foster, CEO of RECOUP (UK EPRO members), added: “There remains a need to continue stimulation of recycling levels and the demand and appetite for the design and manufacture of such products. It is only through market forces drive for recyclate that the industry can ensure its future success. These awards further highlight that plastic is a circular resource – something that is critical to our planet’s survival.”

All of the shortlisted entries will be on display at IdentiPlast 2019 and an online voting system is live to enable voting by industry peers and conference delegates.

You can find out more about IdentiPlast 2019 on the conference website.