INNOVATION | FILM
validate the business model.” Prof Steven De Meester from Ghent University in Belgium worked with Ceflex on the affordability of developing QRP and his team considered the investments needed for new equipment, like hot washing, as well as the general operating costs. The researchers used a range of market data to create a model that analysed the composition of a typical 310 bale of flexible packaging and how much it would cost for it to go through a QRP plant and the revenues this could then generate. The model allowed the Ghent team to extract
value ranges of the reclaimed materials and calculate prices and revenues for how much the subsequent recyclate could be sold for. The analysis found that it could cost around €520 for each tonne of a 310 materials to pass through a QRP plant, which incorporates the capital investment in QRP technologies like hot and cold washing, as well as additional sorting processes. “However, if the output experiences high enough demand it could see a revenue generated upwards of €600 per tonne, leaving a net profit of €80 per tonne and enough income to guarantee long-term profitability,” says Ceflex. “This is a very important conclusion because it shows that it’s actually worth the effort,” says Prof De Meester. The team’s research also found similar results for other bales of flexible packaging waste consisting of polyolefins and polypropylene. In a related QRP study,
Ceflex worked with researchers at Maastricht University in the Netherlands to explore how QRP could supply new and existing markets with a source of materials that can compete with virgin plastic. Prof Kim Ragaert, Chair of Circular Plastics at Maastricht University, led a range of trials on using the recycled output from 310 bales and found that the reclaimed materials can be used for new packag- ing film applications as well as robust film and injection moulding applications. “A PE collation shrink film has been made with
30% recycled content blended from the QRP materials,” says Ragaert, adding that this “per- formed very well” when used to wrap a bundle of Pepsi bottles. The trials were also able to demonstrate a 30%
threshold of recycled content in resealable PP pouches. This packaging was good enough to
www.plasticsrecyclingworld.com
Above: Trials were undertaken of PE collation shrink film made with 30% recycled content from the Ceflex QRP process
meet the needed functionality and production process. “That is very promising because the recycled content threshold of 30% is quite impor- tant for many companies,” says Ragaert. The Maastricht team has also examined applica- tions for PO and PP, as well as how such recycled polymers can be used for higher-value rigid applications, where they found a range of other valuable markets that can reinforce the business model for QRP. “We are now looking at irrigation pipes, we are looking at pallets, we are looking at home and gardening applications,” says Ragaert. Fraunhofer Institute for
Process Engineering and Packaging IVV in Germany has been a leading R&D organisation in plastics
recycling, notably because of the CreaSolv process it developed a few years ago. Fraunhofer IVV is co-ordina- tor of a new collaborative
project called Circular FoodPack focusing on the challenge of recycling
flexible food packaging in a closed loop and making it suitable for certified food-contact applications. The project started in June 2021 and will run until November 2024 with about €5.4m of EU funding from the Horizon 2020 programme. The Circular FoodPack project involves the development of mono-material packaging that performs as well as multilayer composites regard- ing its protective function, but can be sorted and recycled more easily. A safe food packaging partially made of recyclates is being developed as part of the project. A protective barrier layer prevents the migration of individual components. A key focus is on improved sorting and the
project is investigating the use of tracer-based sorting systems to allow plastics waste streams to
January/February 2022 | PLASTICS RECYCLING WORLD 47
Left: The Circular FoodPack project is looking at the elements of food-contact packaging recycling
IMAGE: CEFLEX
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