Discover how Valgroup revolutionizes plastic production and recycling for a sustainable future
For over 45 years, Valgroup has established itself as a reference in plastic production, transformation, and recycling. With a wide range of packaging solutions, compounds, recycled resins, masterbatches, and machines, the company stands as one of the largest plastic producers and recyclers in the world. In line with its core mission of improving society’s quality of life, it creates innovative and sustainable packaging solutions across its 41 production plants and seven logistics plants in Brazil, Colombia, Spain, the US, Italy, Mexico, and Uruguay. As one of the first companies in Brazil to sign the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment, Valgroup is committed to reducing its environmental impact and promoting a circular economy.
“Luigi Geronimi, my uncle, founded Valgroup in 1976 after immigrating from Italy to Lorena, São Paulo. At the time, plastic was a new and versatile material that was used for a variety of applications, and Luigi recognized its potential as the material of the future. Initially, Valgroup focused on recycling plastics because virgin resin was not available for purchase, so he had to start recycling to produce bags. From there, he grew the business to what it is today – a second-generation family business operating in seven countries. Our significant workforce of over 7000 employees empowers us to produce different types of plastic packaging, from flexible to rigid,” begins Carlo Bergamaschi, Corporate Executive Director.
Sustainable solutions
Following on from that, Carlo gives us an in-depth overview of Valgroup’s diverse plastic packaging offerings and the services that complement them. “Put simply, we produce a vast portfolio of plastic packaging that is found in supermarkets, including bottles, caps, jars, and labels, as well as all flexible packaging like monomaterial film, barrier film, printed film, shrinkable film, stretch film and biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) film. Recently, we launched a dedicated digital printing unit, which offers the flexibility to meet the demands of a market for small volumes and enables the production of customized packaging with agility and precision. At the same time, we recycle significantly in line with our groupwide goal to recycle 100 percent of everything we manufacture. This year, we achieved 25 percent of this target, and we are investing substantially in recycling services and solutions for our customers. Indeed, we have several labs dedicated to optimizing our customers’ packaging by developing new packaging structures. We also operate our own machinery for plastic packaging application, and more specifically, for stretch wrap. As a result, we are able to offer the best solution to our customers,” he informs.
But in order to provide the best solution for its clients, Valgroup recognizes the importance of minimizing harm to the environment. Carlo sheds light on the company’s multifaceted approach to sustainability. “Everything we do is based on our four pillars of sustainability. The first pillar focuses on reducing not only the amount of plastic in our packaging but also energy consumption and other inputs used in our manufacturing processes. Our second pillar involves redesigning our packaging as we strive to make it more recyclable. This includes replacing complex, multi-material structures with mono-material ones. A good example is our coffee packaging, which used to be a very complex structure with aluminum foil and other components but is now manufactured using only polyethylene, making it ready to recycle.
“While we design our packaging to be more recyclable, actual recycling remains a challenge, which is why our third pillar is dedicated to this issue. Since our inception in 1976, we have been developing recycling technologies, including mechanical recycling and PET bottle-to-bottle recycling technology, in which we were pioneers.
“Moreover, we were the first company to receive approval for food contact in Europe in 2006 and in Brazil in 2008, marking another significant milestone in our
recycling efforts. Similarly, we pioneered new deinking and delaminating technology that can wash away all ink on printed materials and multi-material structures. Finally, we will launch our advanced recycling technology in 2025. This technology will enable us to recycle all types of mixed plastic directly from landfills, restoring it to its original form, naphtha. We will then send this naphtha back to the petrochemical plant to be transformed into plastic once again.
“Our fourth and last pillar consists in closing the loop by reintegrating or reusing these recycled materials back into our packaging when we develop new products,” he elaborates.
Prioritizing people
In closing our interview, Carlo highlights how Valgroup’s people-based corporate culture has fueled its growth over the years. “The continuous growth we are experiencing would not have been possible without our people. Taking care of our employees and valuing our relationships is one of our core company values. Our view is that everyone working at Valgroup grows alongside the business, because we are expanding extremely rapidly, which means that there are plenty of opportunities for our staff to progress. Additionally, we prioritize operational efficiency, which goes hand-in-hand with significant investments in new equipment, production technologies, digitalization and artificial intelligence (AI). These areas are critical to our strategy and will help us achieve our goals,” he concludes.
By continuously focusing on sustainability leadership, prioritizing the team, and fostering innovation, Valgroup is well-positioned to deliver industry-changing circular solutions well into the future.