The European Recovered Paper Council recognised the most innovative paper recycling projects last night when Eija-Riitta Korhola, Finland, Member of the European Parliament, presented the Third Annual European Paper Recycling Awards at the European Parliament in Brussels.In the Technology Improvement category the winner is ‘ProjectCLEAN’ by Palwaste Recycling, a Stora Enso and Spanish Alucha joint venture.ProjectCLEAN is a highly innovative project that was set up with one purpose in mind: To develop a recycling solution for an omnipresent waste stream that went unrecycled, so-called “plastic-aluminium laminates.”Stora Enso Barcelona and the engineering firm Alucha noticed the recycling problem of the laminates early on. In 2005 they set up a joint company, PALWaste Recycling, which launched ProjectCLEAN. The goal of the project was to use jointly developed technology and build and operate Europe’s first facility that can fully recycle beverage cartons.Nordic Paper Journal highlighted this initiative and the technology in an article in the December issue 2010. /AA