Mattoni with deposit on Košík.cz closes the circle and recycles bottle-to-bottle.
Mattoni together with Košík.cz e-shop closed the circular loop of PET in its first bottle with deposit. Mattoni PET bottles with deposit, which Košík.cz customers brought back, were processed into new bottles. The original as well as new bottles contain 80 % or rPET. Full circularity of the process was overseen by certification company Green Circle Certified, granting Mattoni with deposit the GCC Closed Loop Product Certified certification that verifies closing of the material loop.
“The first certified circular PET bottle in the Czech market, and we believe in Europe, is an important step towards sustainability. It shows that recycling “bottle-to-bottle” works and that a circular system is comparable with a refilling system. I wish that what is now more than evident will be recognised by all producer of PET bottles and cans for beverage in the Czech Republic. In order to replicate this result to the whole of the market, we need a much more efficient collection of post-consumer bottles through a deposit system and a strong cooperation between all the actors in the market. It will require some time and many efforts, but we know it is achievable and we are open to establish with the whole industry a transparent and fair circular system for beverages containers.” says Alessandro Pasquale, CEO of Mattoni 1873, who has Mattoni in its portfolio.
Circular Mattoni PET bottle, produced with 80 % recycled PET content, has undergone a second “bottle-to-bottle” recycling. In this round solely bottles collected against deposit at Košík.cz were used for recycling and no other bottles. It may look strange but not all recycling has the same result. For example, if we use recycled material from another country and, after the use, the bottles are transformed in textiles, as it mostly happens in Czech Republic, the recycling is there, but it is still linear economy, not circular. In that case, the material is “downcycled” (recycled for a lower quality use) and cannot be reused again.
“At Košík we believe that for our innovations to be working, they need to be long-term sustainable and ecological. The joint project with Mattoni belongs to this category. We managed to reach important milestone – verify that circular PET bottle can be one of the ways to sustainable packaging,” adds Tomáš Jeřábek, Košík.cz General Manager. “This is proven by the fact that sales of circular PET bottles with deposit exceeded the usual bottles’ sales as well as by the fact that people managed to return the bottles to circulation in spite of Covid19 restrictions.
We demonstrated that logistics connected with deposit does not pose a significant problem to the retailers and that the entire system of closed circular loop smoothly works. Moreover, customers did not have problems to store empty bottles at home, when they have a guarantee that the bottles will continue to circulate.
The entire process was certified by American third-party certification company GreenCircle Certified. “Congratulations to Mattoni for the Closed Loop Product certification. We applaud Mattoni for demonstrating leadership and establishing a new standard for beverage packaging recovery. A circular approach is the future for reducing waste and capturing valuable resources,” commented the certificate awarding GreenCircle Co-Founder and Certification Officer Tad Radzinski.
The pilot project of first Mattoni PET bottles with deposit was launched in Januery 2020. The purpose was to show customers’ interest in deposit and recycling “bottle-to-bottle” in practice. The post-consumer PET bottles with 80 % or rPET were returned against deposit to Košík.cz couriers and later on recycled into new PET bottles, again with 80 % rPET content. “Customers, who returned the deposited Mattoni bottle at Košík.cz, contributed to a first ever closing of circular loop of Czech PET material. And for that they deserve thanks,” sums up Mr. Jeřábek.