Back to blog Tubes Responsibility 18 May 2021 Albéa’s mono-material HDPE tube - and cap! recycling-ready in Europe! Albéa is proud that its pioneering mono-material HDPE tube with cap has just been approved by RecyClass (Plastics Recyclers Europe). Image Industry first! Albéa is proud that its pioneering mono-material HDPE tube with cap has just been approved by RecyClass (Plastics Recyclers Europe). RecyClass is a cross-industry initiative that works to advance plastic packaging recyclability in Europe through Design for Recycling guidelines. This approval proves that our tube+cap is compatible with established, at-scale HDPE bottles recycling stream. “This announcement is another major step on our journey towards 100% recyclable tubes. Last year our Greenleaf 2 laminate tube technology was recognized by both Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) in the US and RecyClass in Europe. Now is the turn of our extruded plastic tubes. With today’s recognition we demonstrate that our extruded tubes are designed for recycling and recycling-ready – and our unique, breakthrough cap too! This will allow consumers to recycle the whole tube, without wondering what to do with the cap”, says Gilles Swyngedauw, Vice-President CSR and Innovation at Albéa. “That’s why, in addition to our extruded plastic tube, we hope to have this unique tube+cap recognized by the APR soon”, he adds. Albéa has overcome all technical obstacles and developed the first extruded plastic tube and cap to be deemed recycling-ready in Europe. The tube is a mono-material, downgauged web with white masterbatch that leverages the unique ThinwallTM technology and is assembled with an HDPE shoulder. The cap is a breakthrough, proprietary mono-material flip-top, convenience cap made from blow molding HDPE grade. The cap’s original design ensures the tube can stand on a shelf and is visibly downgauged, in line with our priority to use less plastic as part of our circular packaging ambition. It is also compatible with our Greenleaf 2 laminate tube. “This innovation demonstrates that replacing currently widely used PP caps on HDPE tubes is feasible and that mono-material structures contribute strongly to the overall recyclability of plastic packaging”, states Paolo Glerean, Chairman of RecyClass. As part of its commitment to circularity, Albéa has been developing closures made from the same material as the tube body and head. A full range of PE caps is now available both in standard screw and flip-top versions to replace PP caps.
