Tetra Pak is what you need to make a pallet today Lucart and CPR System introduce Newpal S.p.A.

A symbiotic industrial project designed to create value for the environment and businesses

Lucart and CPR System have chosen Ecomondo to introduce Newpal S.p.A., a subsidiary for manufacturing high-quality pallets moulded from recycled plastic using innovative machinery. The project will close the recycling loop of Tetra Pak® beverage containers, creating major benefits for the environment and new business opportunities.

Newpal will invest around EUR 7 million in the creation of an industrial hub with an innovative recycled plastics moulding plant. The machinery is currently being tested and installed and will be fully operational by the summer of 2022 allowing Newpal to transform the plastic granules produced at Lucart Diecimo plant from waste polyethylene and aluminium recovered from beverage cartons into recycled plastic pallets.

The pallets will be used by CPR System for handling goods in the agri-food sector and by Lucart for its hygienic tissue paper products. As further confirmation of the sustainability of the project and its business model, CPR System will recover and reuse of the pallets, so that even at the end of their life and after multiple uses, they will be introduced back into the industrial process instead of ending up in a landfill.

“We started thinking about this project back in 2015 focusing on the remarkable drive for environmental sustainability and the circular economy of CPR System and Lucart”, said Lauro Guidi, President of Newpal S.p.A. “Newpal was established in 2019 and completion of the factory in the province of Ferrara for pallet moulding and ancillary equipment is currently underway. The production of recycled plastic pallets using ‘GranPlast’ material made by Lucart will begin in the second half of 2022. The new pallets will completely replace those currently in use by CPR System, which will be our primary – but not only – customer. Newpal will operate as a supplier to the market offering a range of products for an array of applications.”

Back in 2010, Lucart – Europe's leading manufacturer of tissue, airlaid and MG paper hygiene solutions, known for the Tenderly, Lucart Professional, Tutto Pannocarta and Grazie Natural brands – launched the Natural Project, a circular economy initiative that for the first time ever brought a range of paper hygiene products made from recycled beverage cartons to the supermarket shelves and for the professional sector. The products stand out for their characteristic Havana brown colour (because the fibres are not subjected to high-impact bleaching processes) and are Ecolabel and FSC Recycled certified. The project initially aimed at the full recovery of the polyethylene and aluminium components from the cartons. These materials were converted into dispensers for paper hand towels and toilet paper by external partners. The surplus material was sold on the market and used to make street furniture, pallets and other commonly used plastic objects. However, this system did not use all the material produced and profitability was not maximised.

In CPR System – a leader in Italy in the manufacturing, handling, reuse and recycling of plastic packaging with retractable sides and pallets for the agri-food sector – Lucart found a partner with the necessary experience to enhance the value of recycled plastics that shares the same environmental objectives. The two companies will operate in full symbiosis because one will exploit a product made from the appropriately treated production waste of the other.

“The creation of Newpal S.p.A. is an important step in innovating the recycled plastics moulding sector and a crucial strategic stage on the way that will lead us to using 60% of recycled fibrous raw materials by 2030. Being able to manage plastic waste, transforming it into new raw materials that are rich in value is important to increase the recycling rate”, commented Guido Pasquini, Senior Sustainability Advisor at Lucart. “We are proud to have CPR System by our side with which we share a circular business model capable of optimising economic benefits while minimising environmental impacts".

"Having products derived from truly sustainable supply chain processes today is an added value and a competitive advantage for the sector", said Paolo Gerevini, President of CPR System, emphasising the advantages of the new pallets.
"The Newpal project makes full use of production waste, creating shared value. It produces a reusable product to be employed in the CPR System circuit, which, at the end of their working life, will be recycled to make new pallets. This will create virtuous management in environmental terms but also in economic terms considering that the price of these high-quality plastic pallets is very competitive".