Nextek and Coveris have announced a partnership aiming to convert post-consumer polyolefin (PE and PP) packaging waste into food-grade recycled resins and films using Nextek’s COtooCLEAN process.
Nextek says it was awarded the ‘Circular Solutions for Flexibles’ award from the Alliance to End Plastic Waste in recognition of its COtooCLEAN technology, which uses a waterless cleaning and decontamination process to produce food-grade recycled materials from post-consumer plastic film.
According to Nextek, as part of its partnership with Coveris, a demonstration plant is being developed in the UK to implement the technology at industrial scale. It adds that trials are planned to collect the data needed to meet regulatory requirements and demonstrate the technology to industry. The company’s ultimate goal is to make the process available globally.
Professor Edward Kosior, CEO and founder of Nextek, commented: “COtooCLEAN has the potential to transform plastic film recycling. Since winning the AEPW award, we’ve moved from prototype development to food-grade compliance trials. Partnering with Coveris is the next big step. Together, we’ll demonstrate this technology at scale and work toward a circular economy for plastic films.”
As part of our Spotlight series, last month Coveris explained how its ReCover recycling business is helping to advance compliance with legislation and bolster the company’s capabilities for sourcing, processing and recycling plastic waste. Through increasing the availability of high-quality recyclate, ReCover apparently provides a new source of recycled content for the company to integrate into its packaging solutions.
Professor Edward Kosior and Paul Marshall of Nextek and NEXTLOOPP recently shared their insights on boosting the circularity of post-consumer polypropylene, discussing its use in food packaging and the obstacle of proving the absence of harmful substances. They stated the need to go ‘beyond our old recycling boundaries’ and eliminate unintended build-up of package elements that might travel with the plastics during recycling.
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