We aim to reuse and recycle as much as possible in a constant loop

Circular economy is a term used increasingly frequently in relation to sustainability. Unlike a linear economy, which involves extracting natural resources, producing, consuming and then eventually getting rid of waste, a circular economy is based on reusing and recycling as much as possible again and again in a constant loop.

“The plastics industry has good opportunities to be part of this development, as plastic has excellent properties for being recycled to make new products,” explains Glenn Svedberg, Director of Sustainable Affairs at Nolato.

Regulatory challenges

“One obstacle to this is that certain areas, particularly pharmaceuticals and medtech, face regulatory and technical challenges to using recycled materials. 

“But technology is developing rapidly, with new ways of increasing the level of recycling and improving the quality of recycled material. “One example is chemical recycling, which entails plastic being broken down to its constituent molecules, which then form the basis for new plastic,” explains Glenn.

The chemical industry has numerous industrial projects underway, which are expected to produce significant volumes of chemically recycled material from 2025.

“Of course, mechanically recycled materials can also be used in many applications. For instance, Nolato currently manufactures many products for the automotive industry using mechanically recycled raw material. 

“But increasing the amount of recycled plastic raw material requires good infrastructure in society to collect plastic products that have reached the end of their useful life.”

Designed for recycling

But Nolato also has an important role in the circular economy by encouraging customers to design products for recycling from the outset.

“A product can hardly be deemed environmentally sustainable if it’s difficult or even impossible to recycle,” notes Glenn Svedberg. “It’s best to manufacture a product in a single material. This is often possible, for example, with packaging or single-use products for health care. Whereas a product with a longer lifespan that requires different materials to achieve the desired functionality can be designed so that the materials are easily separable once the product needs to be recycled.”