AlmaWin and Interseroh establish innovative Procyclen bottle for organic detergent

Cologne. Natural laundry detergent producer AlmaWin and environmental services provider Interseroh brought out an innovative detergent bottle not long ago, made from more than 95 per cent plastic packaging waste and manufactured by blow moulding. One year after its launch, the cooperation partners are seeing very positive results: the eco-friendly laundry detergent of the "environmental heroes" line has found a permanent place on the shelves of organic retailers and is setting an example for sustainability and resource conservation.

The bottles are manufactured from the multi award-winning recycled plastic Procyclen, produced by Interseroh, a subsidiary of the ALBA group recycling specialist, in its proprietary ‘recycled-resource’ process. Procyclen is special because the raw material’s unique formulation meets highest expectations in terms of flow, impact strength, rigidity, UV and heat resistance, and can thus be used as a 100 per cent substitute for new material.

“It was an exciting task to adapt the recycled-resource material to the blow moulding process”, relates Dr. Manica Ulcnik-Krump, Head of the Research and Development business unit Recycled-Resource at Interseroh. “Our approach is a unique combination of reactive extrusion and chemical modification, and is being employed for the first time to adapt the entire technical characteristics of Procyclen from packaging waste. We have thus created a world first, with which we can guarantee constant product characteristics and consistent processing parameters for our customers.”

“Using plastics from vegetable raw materials was not an option for our ‘environmental heroes’ line. We wanted to close the loop once and for all, which is why we placed our trust in the know-how of the recycling experts at Interseroh”, says Ignaz Muttenhammer, Head of Sales at AlmaWin Reinigungskonzentrate GmbH. “After one year, we can say that the recycled plastic bottles are very well accepted among organic retail customers. The closed loop works.”

AlmaWin Reinigungskonzentrate GmbH has been producing high quality, high performance, skin-friendly and eco-friendly washing and cleaning products since the 1990s under the two brand names “AlmaWin” and “Klar EcoSensitive fragrance-free”. The products and companies are certified by Ecogarantie/Certisys sprl., Ecocert Greenlife and the Vegan Society. Furthermore, consumer foundation Öko-Test has rated products multiple times as “good” and “very good” (its highest rating). AlmaWin was distinguished for the third time with the GREEN BRANDS Seal for Sustainability at this year’s Biofach trade fair.

Next to ALBA, Interseroh is one brand under the umbrella of the ALBA Group. The ALBA Group operates with a total of about 7,500 employees within Germany, Europe and Asia. With an annual turnover of 2.45 billion Euros (2014) ALBA Group is one of the leading recycling and environmental services companies as well as raw material providers worldwide. In 2014 alone ALBA Group saved about 6.6 million tonnes of greenhouse gases compared to primary production and at the same time more than 48.3 million tonnes of primary raw materials through its recycling activities.

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