In Europe, the demand for flexible plastic packaging is around 15 million tonnes per year, of which approximately 65% consists of polyethylene (PE) films. According to a report from Plastic Recyclers Europe, just 23% of PE flexible films (household, commercial and agricultural) collected in 2018 were sent for end-of -life recycling.
Our objective at Cedo is to maximise the amount of recycled material used in our products, which will help increase recycling rates and advance the transition to the more circular economy.
Recycling
Reduce waste
recycling limits the amount of waste sent to landfills and incinerators, helping to preserve the environment and reduce pollution.
Conserve natural resources
recycling reduces demand for new raw materials. The environmental impact of mechanical recycling is less than the impact of producing virgin material*.
Lower CO2 emissions
recycling reduces the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the production of new materials, helping to mitigate the impacts of climate change*.
Create a circular economy
just 10% of plastic is recycled worldwide (OECD “Global Plastic Outlook” 2022), the rest is lost in the environment, sent to landfill or incinerated. The shift to recycling closes the loop by decreasing demand for new raw materials.
Flexible packaging waste collected from households is difficult to handle and to recycle.
Operating for more than 40 years, Cedo Recycling is only a few recyclers in Europe who is able to produce recyclate from a wide range of waste materials that can be reused for film applications.
Easy
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Cedo
>40 Years
of experience
Cedo has always been a leader in recycling and recycling technology, with a long term commitment to using as much recycled material as possible in all our products.
Our recycling plant in Geleen, Netherlands, began operation in 1979 as a site where old clothes collection bags were recycled. Before long, this expanded to include other types of polymers such as PP caps, crates and PS cups, then in 1985 it became the first plant in Europe to recycle PET bottles.
Since that time, we’ve focused on diverting as much flexible plastic as possible away from landfill or incineration and into products, to give these flexibles a new life. Today, the plant is entirely focussed on recycling post-consumer polythene flexible films, particularly from household packaging, which is widely regarded as the most problematic plastic waste.
In 2024, Cedo successfully acquired Vinatic, an innovative Vietnamese recycling operation, and Plasta Group, a leading Lithuanian and Scandinavian producer and recycler of flexible plastic waste.
These strategic acquisitions marked a significant milestone in our journey to becoming the leading vertically integrated circularity platform for flexible plastic films servicing Europe. By expanding our recycling expertise and infrastructure, we have strengthened our ability to give plastic waste a second life, ensuring a stable supply of high-quality recycled material for our production facilities.
Recycling of plastic waste, especially that generated by households, is not a simple operation. To be successful, it requires specialist knowledge and a process that has been perfected over many years.
Mechanical recycling is a process where plastic waste is recovered through sorting, washing, drying, grinding and re-granulation. These activities do not change the chemical structure of the material which therefore allows multiple re-use or re-cycling of the plastic waste.
Would You like to learn more about recycling in Cedo? Please visit our dedicated websites where you can read more about every step of our recycling process.
