Wine packaging films enter a local circular recycling loop

Aliplast and Italian winery Cantina Pizzolato have reported the first full-year results of a collaboration designed to recover and recycle the plastic films used across wine packaging and logistics operations.

The project creates a local circular supply chain in the Treviso area, collecting films from the winery and transforming them into secondary raw materials that can be reintroduced into new plastic film production.

During 2025, Cantina Pizzolato supplied Aliplast with 19,810 kg of plastic film, while a further 1,801 kg was managed through the local collection service. Overall, 91.7% of the plastic waste generated by the winery was directed towards recycling.

Stretch and pallet films become new raw material

The collaboration focuses primarily on plastic films used in logistics, including stretch film and pallet covers that protect and stabilise wine shipments during transport.

After collection, the materials are transported to Aliplast's plant in Istrana, where they undergo sorting, washing and grinding before being converted into recycled plastic pellets.

These secondary raw materials are subsequently used to manufacture new plastic film containing 30% recycled plastic and 70% virgin material. According to the companies, the resulting film maintains the strength and elasticity required for demanding logistics applications while reducing the consumption of virgin resources.

Local recycling reduces dependence on distant infrastructure

One of the distinctive aspects of the project is the geographical proximity between the two companies. Both operate in the Treviso area, allowing the recycling process to remain within a relatively short local supply chain.

Cantina Pizzolato says this is particularly significant because some of its other recycling initiatives still require materials to be transported outside Italy due to the absence of suitable domestic processing infrastructure.

Keeping collection, recycling and reuse closer together can reduce transport requirements, improve traceability and provide companies with greater visibility over how their packaging waste is managed.

Project responds to PPWR requirements

The initiative also reflects the growing regulatory pressure created by the European Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, which introduces stricter requirements around recyclability, waste reduction and recycled content.

For packaging users, access to certified and traceable recycled materials is becoming increasingly important as companies prepare for future recycled-content obligations and seek to reduce their dependence on virgin fossil-based polymers.

Aliplast argues that higher-quality recycling streams can also improve industrial resilience by reducing exposure to volatility in virgin raw material markets and supporting more secure European supply chains.

Circular packaging becomes part of winery sustainability strategy

For Cantina Pizzolato, the packaging project forms part of a broader sustainability programme that already includes organic viticulture, Equalitas certification, resource-efficiency measures and the recovery of production waste.

Extending these principles to packaging and logistics allows the winery to address materials that remain essential for product protection but traditionally generate significant quantities of single-use plastic waste.

The collaboration demonstrates how closed-loop recycling models can be applied beyond primary consumer packaging to secondary and tertiary formats such as stretch films and pallet protection. By combining local collection, industrial recycling and recycled-content production, the project offers a potentially replicable model for other beverage and food manufacturers seeking to improve packaging circularity.