{"id":24177,"date":"2022-10-18T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-18T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thegreenlist.nl\/?p=24177"},"modified":"2026-02-10T11:01:38","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T10:01:38","slug":"a-shampoo-bottle-made-of-recycled-plastic-how-about-that","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thegreenlist.nl\/en\/een-shampoo-fles-van-gerecycled-plastic-hoe-zit-dat\/","title":{"rendered":"A shampoo bottle made of recycled plastic: what about it?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u2018This bottle is made of 100% recycled plastic.\u2019 You've probably seen this on the packaging of a shampoo bottle or other beauty product. But how exactly does that recycling process work? I was given a guided tour at Morssinkhof - Rymoplast, one of the largest plastic recycling plants in Europe where they know all about high-quality closed loop recycling. Circular valley turns out to be just up north, in Heerenveen to be precise!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

How is my shampoo bottle made from recycled plastic?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In collaboration with Unilever \/ Andr\u00e9lon<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you ever buy shampoo from Andr\u00e9lon, you may have noticed that the famous purple bottle looks a bit different these days. The design and shape have been revamped. But what I find much more interesting: the purple bottles are now made of 100% recycled plastic (okay, except for the cap). And since more than 28 million Andr\u00e9lon bottles are sold every year in the Netherlands alone, this saves a lot of waste. Unilever, the manufacturer of Andr\u00e9lon, has calculated that switching to recycled plastic saves 600 thousand kilos of plastic a year. That is indeed a lot of purple shampoo bottles. A world without waste and waste should be the goal. What if more big brands switched to recycled plastic? They together could make huge positive (!) impact to produce less waste!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Excellent choice: recycled plastic that recycles well<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I learned earlier from a packaging expert at Milieu Centraal that there is a lot of deception in the world of plastics and that recycled plastic that is easily recyclable is currently one of the most sustainable packaging materials. You can read more about this in this article: the truth about plastic packaging<\/a>. To delve further into this topic, I travelled to Friesland at the invitation of Unilever, where I visited one of the largest and most advanced plastic recycling plants in Europe. Here I was given a guided tour and got to talk to two packaging experts from both Morssinkhof - Rymoplast and Unilever. After this visit, I understand even better how recycling works, what the difference is between down cycling and closed loop recycling and how we could accelerate a circular economy even more. I am happy to explain it to you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plastic that does not contribute to the plastic waste mountain<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I know many people are critical of big companies when it comes to sustainability. At the same time, they do have the position to initiate systemic change. Lars van Zutphen of the Frisian recycling company explains: \u2018For good and high-quality recycling, you need two things: a good infrastructure for collection and sorting (we have that in the Netherlands) and enough big companies, such as Unilever and IKEA, that want to buy recycled plastic \u00e1nd design the products so that they are suitable for recycling. This is the only way to complete the circle.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How does plastic recycling work?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It is quite extraordinary when you think about it: much of our plastic household waste is sorted by material and colour at processing plants, washed, crushed and finally melted into new clean plastic granules that in turn serve as raw material for new packaging. This - albeit in simplified terms - is the process of plastic recycling. Manufacturers, such as Andr\u00e9lon, can buy these granules and make their packaging from them. This is a lot more sustainable and consumers do not notice. Recycled plastic is almost identical to virgin plastic. And brands don't have to leave it for recognition either, as it can be dyed in numerous colours. Why don't more manufacturers do this? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is such a logical sustainable step to reuse plastic household waste, plastic that is already there, instead of drilling oil out of the ground for new plastic. At Unilever, they now realise this, which is why more and more brands are switching to recycled plastic packaging. For example, Dove and Axe's products are also made of 100% recycled plastic (except cap).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tour of recycling plant<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Plastic<\/figure><\/div>
\"Machine<\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Guided tour at Morssinkhof - Rymoplast.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Downcycling versus closed loop recycling<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You have recycling and you have recycling, that became clear to me after this tour. For instance, unfortunately a lot of plastic is still not optimally recycled, this is called downcycling. Certain streams from household waste are then at best recycled into a traffic post or a plastic pipe for underground. And if that pipe is broken, it is often already of such low quality that recycling again is out of the question. It has to go into the incinerator. So this is called downcycling and is perhaps somewhat, but certainly not entirely, circular. Much more interesting and future-proof is the technology that Morssinkhof - Rymoplast is working on. Their mission is to recycle plastic as clean, pure and high-quality as possible, allowing the plastic to keep the same application. A plastic shampoo bottle could theoretically become a new shampoo bottle, a shopping crate remains a crate and a PET bottle remains a PET bottle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Plastic recycling also sounds pretty impactful?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u2018It is true that the process of plastic recycling is quite impactful, as it requires a lot of energy and (hot) water. Despite this heavy process, it has been calculated that plastic recycling still emits 72% less CO2 than producing new plastic. We partly generate our own energy with solar panels, the rest we buy as green as possible.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lars van Zutphen of Morssinkhof - Rymoplast<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

How does closed loop recycling work<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

To do that high-quality recycling like at Morssinkhof-Rymoplast, big machines are working day and night. How does closed loop recycling work:<\/p>\n\n\n\n