news


From multilayer film to school desks


School desks made from a mixture of sawdust and multilayer film waste are being provided to schools in South Africa as part of the Virtuous Circle project. Partners include Amcor, DuPont Performance Materials and Futurelife, which produces nutrient-dense food for children.


The Virtuous Circle project


distributes Futurelife food in Amcor multilayer pouches to school children in South Africa, and then recycles the pouches into school desks. Each desk produced by RWPA Solutions diverts 40 kg of waste from landfill, and also helps address a current shortage of an estimated 3 million schools desks in South Africa. The process developed by


RWPA, based on research with DuPont, makes desks that are stiffer and stronger using


PCEP sets PO goals


Polyolefin Circular Economy Platform (PCEP) has announced key strategic goals to advance the circular economy by increasing the reuse and recycling of products made with polyolefins. With an initial focus on packaging, its goals are: innovation with a focus on the circular economy, and enhancing collection and sorting systems. ❙ www.pcep.eu


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recyclate multilayer waste compared with virgin LDPE. Until now, it has been necessary to add recycled HDPE to recycled multilayer waste to add stiffness and strength. The new process mixes compatibilisers and coupling agents with the raw material converted from the comingled multilayer film waste. This is combined with sawdust to manufacture the


desks, as well as building planks for low cost housing. The houses, which conform


to strength standards under South African building codes, can last more than 10 years if properly maintained and can help respond to housing shortages in many areas. At the end of their life, the planks can be reground and remould- ed into new planks. ❙ www.thevirtuouscircle.co.za


P&G hosts workshop


Futurelife food is distributed to schoolchildren


Brand giant P&G held a workshop on plastic packag- ing in April as part of Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy initiative. Taking part were representatives from brand owners, waste management companies, recyclers, packaging component and resin producers. The recycling workshop had a dual focus: to provide an update on the latest developments in using tracers and watermarks for sorting of plastics packag- ing waste; and to debate how and where tracer and watermark sorting can add value, and how they can be introduced and standard- ised across the plastics industry to ensure uniform market take-up. ❙ www.pg.com


Prize of $2m for packaging ideas


Two plastics recycling competitions, offering $1m each for the winners, were launched at a high-profile event in London in May. The Innovation Prize from Ellen MacArthur Foundation and The Prince of Wales’s International Sustainability Unit is intended to find solutions to help keep plastics out of oceans. The $1m Circular Design


Challenge “invites applicants to rethink how we can get products to people without generating plastic waste”, say the organisers. It will focus on


PLASTICS RECYCLING WORLD | June 2017


small-format packaging items such as shampoo sachets, wrappers, straws and coffee cup lids, which are not commonly recycled. This competition is open to “anyone with a good idea for how to get products to people without using disposable packaging” and is partnered by US design group IDEO. The Circular Materials


Challenge, also worth $1m, focuses on multi-layer film packaging. “This multi-layer construction provides impor- tant functions like keeping


food fresh, but also makes the packaging hard to recycle,” say the organisers. This competi- tion “invites innovators to find alternative materials that could be recycled or compost- ed”. The challenge partner is US innovation incubator NineSigma. The Innovation Prize, which is part of the New Plastics Economy initiative, is funded by Wendy Schmidt, the US philanthropist and partner of Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google. ❙ www.newplasticseconomy.org


www.plasticsrecyclingworld.com


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