German waste system operator Reclay Group (Herborn; www.reclay-group.com) has received approval from the French Ministry of the Environment for its Léko (Paris / France; www.leko-organisme.fr) take-back and recycling scheme (see Plasteurope.com of 17.11.2016). The scheme, which has been primarily initiated and jointly founded by Reclay subsidiary Valorie SAS (www.valorie.fr), is set to launch on 1 January 2018.

Reclay said the system will provide an alternative to the monopoly that has been enjoyed since 1992 by French recycler Eco-Emballages (Paris; www.ecoemballages.fr). “Our aim is transparent, (cost)-efficient and customer-oriented structures to make the licensing process – which has always been extremely burdensome – as simple as possible for companies,” said Raffael Fruscio, managing partner of the Reclay Group.

According to Reclay, the French system has been one of the most producer-unfriendly, complex and expensive in Europe, with technical standards in sorting and recycling plants remaining low. It noted that the recycling quota of 75% specified by the French government for packaging waste has not been achieved since its introduction in 2012.

Léko said since its foundation in October 2016, it has been working towards simplifying and modernising France’s recycling system to collect more materials and better recycle them.

In separate news, Reclay has boosted its recycling activities in central and eastern Europe with the acquisition of Trans Impeks of Koper / Slovenia. Plastics exports from Slovenia will be organised through the new company which will be renamed Reclay Materials d.o.o. in the coming days.

“The takeover means that we will be able to continue our expansion into eastern Europe and our successful development of the plastics recycling sector in this region,” said Kai Hoyer, managing director of Reclay Materials. The German group said it plans to integrate further countries in (southern) eastern Europe into its activities.