Demonstration of circular use in flexible food packaging based on CFP technologies

The main objective of Work Package (WP) 6 of the European project CIRCULAR FoodPack was to demonstrate and validate the circularity of flexible food and non-food packaging. This work package explored how recycled material from three different waste sources can be reused in novel packaging applications, showcasing the quality of post-consumer recyclates (PCRs) obtained through the recycling processes established in WP3. LOOP Scenarios The project focuses on three primary loop scenarios for recycling flexible packaging:LOOP 1 investigates the recycling of flexible packaging from households, demonstrating how dissolution recycling with pre- and post-treatment technologies can improve recyclate quality for reuse in home and personal care packaging.LOOP 2 explores a closed-loop business-to-business (B2B) collection system for flexible food packaging. This system ensures that recycled material can be used again in food packaging.LOOP 3 consists of two cycles designed to simulate the repeated use of recycled material in packaging and assess the impact of a second recycling step on material properties. This loop incorporates tracer-based sorting (TBS) to separate food from household flexible packagingwaste and by this way creates a close-loop system for flexible food packaging. Various recycling cascades are explored to achieve the highest quality recyclates. The goal is to reuse the resulting PCRs in food packaging. The insights gained from these loops provide valuable recommendations for designing circular food packaging and optimizing recycling cascades. Six different demonstrators were produced to validate these results, covering three application areas: food packaging, home care packaging, and personal care packaging. Different laminate structures were designed to incorporate PCRs into flexible food and non-food packaging, and technologies required for achieving circularity in flexible packaging were outlined. This Deliverable D6.4 presents the circular use of polyethylene (PE) post-consumer recyclates (PCRs) produced from Tracer-Based-Sorted (TBS) food packaging waste in LOOP 3. The process started with state-of-the art mono-material PE flexible food packaging marked with fluorescent tracers, which were mixed with real flexible household waste. Following TBS, the sorted food packaging items were shredded, washed, deinked, mechanically recycled, and deodorized. The resulting PE PCRs were then re-incorporated into recyclable, mono-material PE flexible food packaging again. This procedure has been repeated in 2 Cycles, so-called LOOP 3 Cycle 1 and LOOP 3 Cycle 2. Two types of flexible food packaging demonstrators were produced:LOOP 3 Cycle 1: A flexible packaging containing 50% PE PCR content, used for coffee packaging. The shelf life of the product was predicted using water vapor transmission rates and moisture content analysis for coffee and cocoa powder products. LOOP 3 Cycle 2: Flexible packaging produced with 34% PE PCRs from Cycle 1 input waste, tested for cocoa powder packaging. D6.4 provides a detailed overview of the food packaging specifications, TBS demonstration, recycling processes, laminate production with PE PCRs, and performance test results. It builds on previous results from WP2, WP3, WP5, and deliverables D2.6, D3.6, and D5.4. Additionally, the deliverable mentions the environmental impact of the recycling scenario and cost considerations, with further insights available in Deliverables D7.5 and D8.4. Within LOOP 3, comprising two cycles, the CIRCULAR FoodPack project carried out a demonstration of a long and extensive process chain at large scale. Initiated as early as Month 13 of the project, it allowed the project to make significant progress, whereby it had to rely on the best partner technologies available at the given time. Consequently, it could not always incorporate the most optimized sorting and recycling technologies developed later in the project at scale and thereby paves the way for further advancements and improvements. Sorting and Recycling Results: The sorting of food packaging from flexible household packaging waste was successfully achieved using the TBS technology. The sorting process achieves a high purity rate of over 98%, with advanced Sort4Circle® technology increasing this to more than 99%. This high sorting purity is critical for producing high-quality recyclates suitable for food packaging1. Although the advanced mechanical recycling process slightly impacted the mechanical properties of the recyclates, it was still possible to extrude second cycle PCRs and integrate them into new flexible packaging materials at a PCR content of 34%. Packaging Performance: An important finding is the necessity of using functional barriers to safely incorporate PCRs from food packaging into new food packaging. By sandwiching the recyclates between two functional barriers, the migration of unwanted substances into the packaged product can be effectively reduced. These innovative laminates containing PCRs and functional barriers were successfully tested on packaging machinery at Nestlé. However, further research is needed to optimize material properties, confirm the long-term effectiveness of functional barriers in reducing contamination, and simplify testing procedures. Additionally, further exploration into certified recycling methods for producing PE PCRs is required. In summary, the circular use of PE PCRs coming from TBS flexible food packaging waste has been successfully demonstrated, providing a pathway for their reuse in food packaging applications. These results pave the way for more sustainable packaging solutions, optimizing the recycling process and ensuring product safety. Note: This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 101003806.