Closed-Loop Recycling in Action
How plastic film recovery creates value for manufacturers
A recent collaboration in Italy between Aliplast and Cantina Pizzolato has become a much talked about example of closed-loop recycling that delivers both environmental and operational benefits.
The partnership between a plastics recycling company and an organic winery demonstrates a growing trend across sectors. As regulators, brand owners, and consumers increasingly call on manufacturers to reduce waste and use more recycled content into products and in packaging, industry is responding with innovative, practical solutions.
From waste stream to raw material
You've likely noticed that flexible plastic films have become integral to modern supply chains. Stretch films, pallet covers, and transport packaging protect products during storage and distribution. Whether wrapping building materials, commercial products, or pallets carrying beverages such as wine bottles, they play a valuable role ensuring stability and reducing product damage. But they can also produce difficult-to-manage waste streams.
Aliplast and Cantina Pizzolato have developed a recovery system designed to change that. In 2025, the winery collected and reused nearly 20 tonnes of plastic film-waste—ultimately achieving a 91.7% recycling rate for its plastic packaging materials.
Now, the winery’s plastic films are delivered to Aliplast's Treviso recycling facility where they undergo sorting, washing, and grinding. The resulting materials are recycled into pellets that can be used for new plastic film production.
Maintaining performance with recycled content
Balancing sustainability with demanding performance requirements is a known challenge. Flexible packaging applications require materials that offer strength, elasticity, puncture resistance, and reliable processing characteristics.
To address this, the new films produced through the programme contain 30% recycled material and 70% virgin resin. This blend allows manufacturers to introduce recycled content while maintaining the mechanical properties required to protect and transport their products.
For converters and packaging manufacturers, approach illustrates a realistic way for companies to integrate more recycled content. Immediate transition to fully-recycled materials may not be feasible, for instance in some systems dependent on specific or complex material blends. But a phased approach can preserve product quality while delivering measurable environmental benefits.
Building regional circular supply chains
Beyond the recycling technology itself, the collaboration highlights the importance of localised circular supply chains. The short distance between the two companies located near Treviso, in Veneto, means waste can be collected, processed, and reintroduced into production in the same regional ecosystem. This minimises transportation costs and improves traceability throughout the recycling process.
For the plastics industry, local recycling infrastructure remains a critical factor in achieving circularity targets. While many companies have committed to increasing recycled content, access to high-quality recycled feedstock remains a challenge in many markets. A model for cooperation between waste generators, recyclers, and manufacturers, the Aliplast-Cantina Pizzolato project also supports regional economic activity.
Preparing for regulatory change
This project reflects a broader shift happening in Europe's packaging sector. New regulations increasingly emphasise recyclability, recycled content, and circular material systems. Forward-thinking manufacturers recognise that compliance alone is not enough. Establishing secure, certified sources of recycled material can also provide protection against market volatility, supply chain disruptions, and fluctuations in virgin resin prices.
By integrating recycled content into production today, companies gain valuable experience in material qualification, process optimisation, and supply-chain management before ahead of more stringent regulatory requirements.
Implications for the Wider Plastics Industry
Although focused on transport packaging for the wine sector, this project demonstrates that post-use plastic films can be successfully recovered, reprocessed and returned to manufacturing cycles through a structured and traceable system. Circularity becomes much more achievable when recycling is integrated directly into production ecosystems. Further, phased implementation can and does achieve meaningful results.