Recycle: future-ready

Optimizing recyclability from the outset – also known as design for recycling – is crucial. While monomaterial solutions are ideally suited for reuse in recycling plants, not all packaging can be made from just one material. Some innovative thinking is called for here too, then – as demonstrated by the development of the K3^® r100 cup, whose cardboard wrap automatically separates from the plastic cup in the waste disposal process.

Key factors in assessing recyclability include:

• Where possible, just one material used (monomaterial)
• If using a monomaterial is not desirable or feasible, materials are easy to separate
• Barrier materials used sparingly
• Printed area minimized or washable ink used
• EuPia-compliant printing inks used
• Detectability ensured (e.g., by refraining from using carbon black)
• Sortability optimized (e.g., by using labels sparingly)
• Packaging developed so that it can be fully emptie

When people think of recycling, it is usually mechanical recycling (also known as material recycling) that comes to mind. At present, this is the most widely used process. It involves recovering raw material from plastic waste without breaking down the chemical compounds, then making new products from this feedstock. The aim is to maintain the quality of the material as far as possible and manufacture products of the same standard.

Especially in the food sector, the raw materials used have to meet extremely strict requirements. Currently, only recycled PET is approved for our core applications in the food sector. Considerable effort is being put into creating r-PP, r-PS, and r-HDPE for food packaging. We are also involved in a host of projects aimed at bringing these materials to fruition.

Greiner Packaging already supplies products made of r-PP in the nonfood segment – for example, its award-winning packaging for Henkel, which is made with 50% r-PP.

Products made from recycled PET are available for the food industry. We are constantly working on innovative developments that combine outstanding product properties with an r-PET content of up to 100%.

At present, the standard recycling process is mechanical recycling. On the other hand, chemical or feedstock recycling – although still in its infancy – holds great potential, especially for the use of recycled plastic material other than PET in the food sector. This latter technique puts waste plastic through an advanced process to produce the same feedstock for plastic production as is obtained from crude oil. As a result, the quality of the product is identical to that of virgin plastic.

There are currently two challenges associated with chemical recycling:

• Its carbon footprint is still less than ideal because the process requires large quantities of energy, which means that the material is also currently relatively expensive. However, the technology is constantly evolving, so this may change in the near future.
• The plastics produced are often not physically separated. Since the feedstock made from recycled plastic is identical to that made from crude oil, they both pass through the same equipment during production. As a result, it is unclear which plastic content has come from which source. The solution to this problem lies in mass balance systems – in other words, certification programs such as ISCC Plus, which give consumers the certainty that a minimum quantity of plastic from nonfossil sources was used in production.

Greiner Packaging is already working on specific projects that will allow our customers to put an appropriate ISCC Plus label on their products. It is well worth keeping an eye on developments in chemical recycling with a view to being well prepared for the future.