Report on developed cost-effective process chains

Since the start of the European project CIRCULAR FoodPack, various sorting, pretreatment, and recycling processes have been evaluated to meet the quality requirements for post-consumer polyethylene recyclate (PE PCR) intended for food packaging applications. The primary objective was to produce high-quality recyclates while minimizing the cost gap between recycled and virgin materials. To achieve this, UGENT and Fraunhofer analyzed the outcomes of Tasks 3.2 to 3.5 within Work Package (WP) 3. Using the database (see public Deliverable D3.11), they identified process chains capable of meeting the desired quality standards. These processes include water washing and water-based deinking as pretreatment steps, as well as dissolution-based recycling for purification and material recovery. Mass and energy balances were calculated for each process chain, covering material yields, water and solvent consumption, and energy requirements for solvent recovery. In parallel, basic cost estimates were developed to support sustainability assessments conducted in WP7. This deliverable outlines the design of optimized process chains aimed at achieving the highest purification levels at minimal costs for specific input waste streams. These streams include: French household flexible post-consumer packaging waste Business-to-business (B2B) collected flexible food packaging waste Flexible food packaging waste sorted via tracer-based sorting (TBS) for closed-loop recycling Two recycling cascades have been designed: Recycling Cascade 1 and Recycling Cascade 2. • Recycling Cascade 1 involves dissolution-based recycling for purification, including recompounding and finally deodorization as post-treatment. • Recycling Cascade 2 involves water-based delamination/deinking and mechanical recycling, followed by deodorization as post-treatment. The critical factor in selecting the most suitable recycling cascade was the composition and characteristics of the input waste. Findings from WP3 revealed that Recycling Cascade 2 is not suitable for French household post-consumer flexible packaging waste. This is due to the heterogeneous nature of the materials, which are not designed for delamination, significantly reducing the efficiency of water-based processes. The mixed material composition hinders effective ink removal and separation, indicating the need for alternative or enhanced recycling strategies to handle such complex waste streams. Conversely, dissolution-based recycling (Recycling Cascade 1) enabled highly effective purification for this type of waste, allowing the production of machine-direction-oriented (MDOPE) and sealing films with PE PCR content of 50% and 100%, respectively. For B2B and TBS flexible food packaging waste — which primarily consists of PE-based monomaterial flexible packaging laminates designed with a debondable/delamination primer — water-based delamination and deinking (Recycling Cascade 2) proved highly effective. One key advantage of this approach is the existing infrastructure in Europe capable of scaling up these processes, including project subcontractors such as Hydrodyn and NTCP, making this cascade well-suited for these specific waste streams. Deinking efficiencies above 95% were achieved after the integration of specially developed scavengers, which successfully eliminated color staining in PE PCRs — one of the project's key highlights. This cascade is considered the best option for targeted streams such as diverted or B2B streams with dedicated collection systems. Another major advancement in the project was the integration of deodorization technology into both recycling cascades. A deeper understanding of plastic deodorization, combined with the application of infrared-based technology, enabled deodorization efficiencies exceeding 98% across various waste types, ensuring a safe processing environment for film production. PE PCR costs — excluding the sorting step — were found to be comparable to current virgin PE market prices (0.80–1.85 €/kg). In both recycling cascades, purification represents the highest cost share in terms of capital expenditure (CAPEX) and operational expenditure (OPEX). For water-based purification, the recycled PE needs to be priced above 1.25 €/kg to be commercially viable. While dissolution-based recycling is more expensive due to the additional recompounding step following dissolution, it results in a higher overall CAPEX. The estimated recycled PE cost is 1.40 €/kg for Recycling Cascade 1 and 1.25 €/kg for Recycling Cascade 2. Process feasibility could be further enhanced by improving purification and pretreatment efficiency and integrating renewable energy sources Note: This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 101003806.