BillerudKorsnäs, Sweden, acquired a minority holding in Recycl3R, Spain, to increase recycling rates of single-use packaging.
The investment was made by BillerudKorsnäs’ wholly owned subsidiary BillerudKorsnäs Venture AB.
“Waste production is one of the largest environmental problems that society faces today, and solving it is a big challenge. In Europe alone, we produce 240 million tons of waste, and only 44% is recycled. BillerudKorsnäs shares our vision of solving this global challenge, and is an excellent partner and investor for Recycl3R,” says Ivan Gonzalez, environmental lawyer and co-founder of Recycl3R.
Recycl3R builds a database with information about what packaging material different consumer products consist of. The system, developed partly within the European “TagitSmart” project, is designed to get more material back into recycling streams.
“Packaging recycling is an area that we believe will be increasingly important in order to solve the environmental challenges ahead. Sustainability and digitalization connected to packaging are strategic focus areas for BillerudKorsnäs Venture, and Recyc3R presents a very interesting opportunity based on their combined expertise in both areas,” says Martin Neselius, venture manager at BillerudKorsnäs Venture. “There are already steps taken toward more legislation and restrictions regarding single-use products, and we believe this development will continue. There is still a lot of work to do in order to ensure that more packaging enters the recycling stream and is recycled into new products. Recycl3R’s product supports increased and cleaner recycling streams for this purpose.”
