FILM | INNOVATION
Nestlé, Amcor Flexibles, Kreyenborg and Polyse- cure are some of the companies taking part in Circular FoodPack along with research institutes. The escalating activity in film and flexibles
Above: In a supply deal with Reclay, packaging waste will be processed at Borealis recycling plants, such as the plant operated by its Ecoplast business in Wildon, Austria
be separated into food packaging and non-food packaging. “Fluorescent tracers containing a materi- al-specific code that can be read by lasers allow for an efficient sorting process,” says Fraunhofer IVV. Objectives include: development and validation
of food-contact compliant fluorescent tracers, which can be printed as additives of typical printing inks; successful minimal adoption of conventional NIR sorters so that these can reliably detect small and commercially viable amounts of sorting tracers on all types of multi-layer food packaging; successful sorting trials with tracer- based sorting of marked food packaging items, mixed in representative streams of packaging waste to prove technical feasibility with detection rates of 99% and above. The recycling process includes several cleaning stages to minimise odour, colour and other impurities. A deinking technology will remove printing inks and perform deodorisation. The solvent-based CreaSolv process will separate the cleaned material into different components, such as fillers, additives and polyethylene. “These new approaches of sorting, deodorisation and deinking in combination with novel recycling process cascades will boost the current quality level of recycled polymers to a high-purity grade that is necessary for highly demanding and sensitive packaging applications,” says project coordinator Esra Kücükpinar-Niarchos of Fraunhofer IVV. In a further phase, Circular FoodPack intends to develop high performance functional barriers, to effectively prevent migration of any residual contaminants from the PCRs below the migration limits set out by legislation and EFSA. There will also be demonstrations in three use cases: dry food, home care and personal care packaging. These will be achieved by designing packaging films that can be completely recycled and are suitable for reuse in food packaging.
48 PLASTICS RECYCLING WORLD | January/February 2022
recycling is evidenced by new supply chain collabo- rations. In January, polyolefins producer Borealis and Reclay waste management group announced a strategic partnership giving Borealis access to supply of plastics packaging waste in Europe, starting with waste collected by Reclay’s EPR scheme in Germany. The waste stream will be processed at Borealis recycling plants, such as the plant operated by its Ecoplast business in Wildon, Austria. Borealis says this “enables value chain partners, customers, and brand owners to meet recycling quotas and increase the volume of plastic recyclate used in products and applications”. “The reliable supply of high-quality recyclate is a
prerequisite for a functioning circular economy,” says Lucrèce Foufopoulos, Borealis Executive Vice President Polyolefins, Innovation & Technology and Circular Economy Solutions. Ineos, another major supplier of polyolefins to film and flexible packaging companies, has announced a collaboration with flexibles group Coveris in the UK. In response to the UK govern- ment’s pending mandate for recycled content in packaging, Coveris has developed pallet stretch- hood that contains Recycl-IN polymer from Ineos. Ineos has worked closely with the technical team
at Coveris in Winsford, England on development of the new stretch-hood packaging film, containing a minimum of 30% recycled material, which has undergone a series of testing and trials at the Ineos facility in Grangemouth, Scotland. Ineos says these trials have demonstrated that the new recycled stretch-hood covering for pallets performs to the same standards as a previous solution made from 100% virgin material.
CLICK ON THE LINKS FOR MORE INFORMATION: �
www.pepsico.com �
www.amcor.com �
www.starlinger.com �
www.polystarco.com �
https://ceflex.eu �
www.ugent.be �
www.maastrichtuniversity.nl �
www.ivv.fraunhofer.de �
www.circular-foodpack.eu �
www.borealisgroup.com �
https://reclay-group.com �
www.ineos.com �
www.coveris.com �
www.revolutioncompany.com
www.plasticsrecyclingworld.com
IMAGE: BOREALIS
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