A longstanding relationship based on sustainability
The partnership between Aliplast and Zignago Vetro started in 2007 and, after 15 years, it’s stronger than it’s ever been: Herambiente, through Aliplast, sells to Zignago Vetro a total of 852 tons of materials produced by employing recovery processes (data from 2021), made in its Empoli and Fossalta facilities with the support of its Poland and France plants. These are mainly recycled LDPE materials for secondary packaging, including caps, pallet top covers and gusseted reels.
Packaging for bottles and jars: a “Reload” product success story
Every month, Aliplast provides Zignago Vetro the products that are used for the packaging of bottles and jars. These are used as a “middle layer” of packaging to protect the glass that has just been manufactured; they will then be discarded once the bottles arrive to the bottling plants to be filled and then sold.
This is a “Reload” product, a brand that identifies Aliplast films that include a very high percentage of recycled materials and combine high strength performance – comparable to the virgin product – with a reduced environmental footprint. The partnership between Aliplast and Zignago Vetro is, however, not limited to providing reels, it also includes part of the plastic waste from other production processes.
From the recovery of special waste to its treatment: the role of Herambiente
A fundamental contribution is that of Herambiente Servizi Industriali (HASI), a subsidiary of Herambiente that handles company waste. Herambiente collects mixed packaging (about 40 tons in 2021), including a proportion of plastic packaging other than PE polymers, that are selected and then sent to be recovered. Another material that is collected is HDPE packaging, which is washed in the Castelfranco di Sotto plant and then ground to produce secondary raw materials (about 6 tons in 2021).
Between 2021 and the first few months of 2022, HASI has handled about 1,000 tons of waste for Zignago Vetro Empoli. Of these, about 40% are special hazardous waste and the rest is non-hazardous. The special waste handled by HASI for Zignago Vetro is cleaning and washing waters, treatment plant sludge, process waste, non-hazardous mixed packaging and contaminated packaging.
Sustainability is part of the company DNA
All the processes that involve the two companies are developed with the aim of higher levels of sustainability. Zignago Vetro is a high production company that, for a long time, has been devoting a lot of resources to lowering its energy footprint. For instance, a large proportion of glass production employs a very high percentage of recycled materials.
Life Cycle Assesment: data, not just words
Thanks to the partnership with Aliplast and Hasi, the carbon footprint of the company’s production processes is further reduced. All of the services provided and products sold to Zignago Vetro are monitored through the LCA (Life Cycle Assesment) method, which asses the environmental footprint of the whole supply chain, taking into account the impact of products such as films, from regeneration to end of life. Specifically, the use of Aliplast products, which are the result of recycling processes, allows the company to save 1.431.360 kg of Co2.
The protagonists of the story
Info about Zignago Vetro
Founded in the 1950s, Zignago Vetro is now among the main producers of container glass in Italy and one of the most important companies in this field globally. This is the result of steady growth and important acquisitions that have brought about development and profitability, while also protecting jobs and positively impacting on the economic and social conditions of the region. The Group is among the main international players in the packaging market, its core business being the production and marketing of increasingly innovative and cutting-edge containers made of hollow glass aimed at different segments of the market.
Info about Aliplast
Established in 1982 and headquartered in Ospedaletto di Istrana (Treviso), in little more than three decades Aliplast has carved out for itself a role as leader in the production of flexible PE films, PET sheets and regenerated polymers. From a plastic waste collection company, it has been able to progressively widen its offer thanks to careful and forward-looking management, paired with constant investments in research and development and in the use of state-of-the-art technology. The collection activity has been integrated first with the regeneration and then with the production of goods and packaging with recycled plastics; this was followed by the approval by the PARI system (Plan for the autonomous management of packaging waste), which allows it to treat its PE packaging and the waste generated by its associates on its own, instead of having to rely on the national system, since it is able to guarantee an effective collection and recycling. Since 2017, Aliplast is part of Herambiente, the first national waste treatment company.
Info about HASI
Founded in 2014 and based on the experience of several companies in the Gruppo Hera, Herambiente Servizi Industriali (HASI) is now a leading organization in the field of innovative, end-to-end solutions for waste management. The company offers an integrated waste management solution, providing an effective system that begins with a detailed analysis of the company needs and ends with waste removal and treatment. HASI’s offer has evolved over time in the “Global Waste Management,” a package that includes high added value services such as regulatory consulting, environmental auditing, chemical analysis, production process optimization, micro-collection, reclamation, storage, treatment for all types of special waste and private disposal plants management on behalf of third parties.
