Aliplast and Mirage recover plastic waste from the ceramic industry

Aliplast, active in plastic recycling and production, is joining forces with Mirage, a leading player in the ceramics industry. The two companies have created a circular process for the recovery of plastic films used in ceramic manufacturing processes.

For more than 50 years, Mirage has been producing tiles for interior and exterior wall and floor coverings. The process that leads to their production goes through different steps, during which the tiles are packed several times with the use of plastic films, with a procedure that leads to the use and disposal of large quantities of these films. The recovery project put in place by Aliplast involves, as a first step, a selection and volumetric reduction of this waste material; a phase that takes place directly on site, in the Mirage plants. Then, the material is sent to the Aliplast hub, where it is reconverted into granule and, subsequently, into new packaging film, ready to be fed back into Mirage’s production circuit.

The recovery activity is carried out according to a “closed loop” logic, a principle aimed at maximum sustainability that provides for the recovery of plastic waste from companies and the subsequent stages of treatment and regeneration to obtain a quality product, with technical characteristics equal to that made from virgin material, ready to be re-introduced into the production cycle.

One of the data that is usually measured is CO₂ equivalent, based on the IPCC 2013 GWP 100 methodology. The results of this analysis showed that annually, through the production of about 100,000 tons of recycled products, Aliplast avoids the emission of about 170,000 tons of CO₂ equivalent (2022 data). This saving corresponds to more than 400,000 barrels of oil. In other words, the contribution of suppliers and customers who choose Aliplast’s recycled products has a significant impact in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, comparable to the effect of about 100,000 gasoline-powered cars driving 10,000 kilometers in a year.

Aliplast supplies more than 500 tons of shrink film to Mirage each year. This is a “Reload” type material, a trademark that identifies Aliplast products that have an extremely high percentage of recycled material, typically more than 80%. The use of this type of material results in an environmental benefit of about 1,200 tons of greenhouse gases prevented.