Success story:
ASTRAL, pioneers in PolyAl recycling
Waste management and recycling in Valencia
The best example of our ability to tackle complex challenges is ASTRAL, our 100% recycled material made from the polyethylene and aluminium of used beverage cartons (Tetra Pak-type containers).
The challenge
For decades, cardboard beverage cartons (such as Tetra Brik) posed a major technical challenge: how to make use of the approximately 30% of polyethylene and aluminium (polyal) that remains after the cardboard fibre has been separated? This waste, consisting of closely intermingled materials, was considered difficult to recover by most of the industry — an untapped potential that the circular economy had been calling for years to be resolved.
The Grupo Sabater solution
In 2023, after years of research in our R&D&I laboratory, we signed a strategic agreement with Tetra Pak to develop an exclusive patented process for the mechanical recycling of polyal. What began as a pilot project of 3,000 tonnes per year quickly became a resounding technical and commercial success.
Phases of technological development
Fundamental research (2021)
- • Comprehensive composition analysis: 70% polyethylene + 30% aluminum in laminated form
- • Laboratory formulation tests: 157 pilot tests evaluating grinding, washing, and extrusion temperature parameters
- • Identification of the critical challenge: preventing aluminum oxidation while processing polyethylene at high temperatures
Development of the patented process (2022-2023)
- By using specific temperature, pressure, and spindle speed parameters, we were able to integrate aluminum as a functional additive within the polyethylene matrix, improving thermal and mechanical properties without the need to separate it.
- In this way, we have succeeded in validating and certifying a new high-quality granulate for the industry.
Industrial Validation and Patent (2023–2024)
- The process developed was validated on an industrial scale at our plant in Ribarroja del Turia. After successfully passing mechanical, thermal and environmental characterisation tests, Grupo Sabater was granted a patent for the process — establishing ASTRAL as a historic milestone in the mechanical recycling of used post-consumer Tetra Brik-type beverage cartons.
The technological impact
This project has made us pioneers in Spain in the mechanical recycling of complex multilayer packaging, demonstrating that, with technology, knowledge and commitment, impossible waste can be turned into high-value raw materials.
Tangible results
Proprietary technology
It is the only way to recycle truly complex waste
Patented processes
They generate sustainable competitive advantages (exemption from plastic tax, technical differentiation)
Industrial-technological collaboration
Accelerate innovation (Tetra Pak - Trans Sabater partnership)
100%
Guaranteed traceability
+50
Completed projects
Testimonials
Start your project today
Do you have a waste stream that no one else wants to manage? Do you need impeccable environmental documentation? Are you looking for a partner who understands the complexity of your industry?
At Grupo Sabater we have spent more than three decades turning challenges into opportunities. If ASTRAL was possible when everyone said it was impossible, what will we do with your project?
