In this guest feature, EPPM spoke to lead consultant at CEFLEX Dana Mosora about developments in film packaging recycling.
How has CEFLEX managed to convince such a range of stakeholders to get involved in your aim for flexible packaging to be recycled in an increasing number of European countries?
I would say that this was the easiest challenge to overcome. We started this consortium at the end of 2016 with around 26 stakeholders. Today we have over 160. I have to say, the growth was organic, rapid and driven by the interest of the stakeholders, as well as a demand to deliver faster than we could have imagined.
Steffen Oliver Riese
Packaging Europe Ltd. / Sustainability Award 2019
In the context brought by European legislation, with all the emphasis on recycling rates for plastic packaging, the only way for many countries to reach new, higher targets was by expanding recycling to include flexible packaging. The real challenge was how to recycle more of this packaging which had been perceived as hard to recycle.
We envisioned the way forward by looking at technical challenges and then defining projects that will address these challenges.
Regardless of their place in the value chain, organisations have wanted to get involved with CEFLEX as a platform for cross-sector collaboration, discussion and defining solutions. Today we’re seeing more and more questions like ‘why can’t we recycle flexible packaging’ and an ambition to tackle the difficult issues among an increasingly well-informed group of stakeholders, which in turn continues to fuel this growth.
What difficulties did you face when identifying viable, sustainable end markets?
The moment you work on topics like this you talk about changing things. Recycling is a young industry for plastics. Some plastics like PET bottles have well-established end-of-life systems and end markets, but for other plastics – and for flexible packaging particularly – there is not much. It didn’t take long to realise that to find new end markets we have to start by looking at how to collect, sort and recycle the flexible packaging more, and better, because not a lot was collected five years ago. More and more is being collected now.
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We realised that you need to sort differently, and you need to start recycling differently to give the new polymers higher value. What was interesting to see during this project was that it was never a problem of the availability of technology, because sorting and recycling technologies existed but were not implemented for flexible packaging. So, at best a sorting plant at that time was sorting the PE film, ideally when it came from non-contaminated sources – post-commercial and post-industrial – because it’s cleaner and easier to recycle.
It had mostly been recycled into garbage bags, but four or five years ago the garbage bags end market was almost saturated. Quality was an issue, so we started to analyse what can be done better. How can you sort better? Is it true that only the PE polymer can be sorted for recycling into a film application? So, we started to ask these questions and challenge the status quo. We realised that it all starts with re-engineering a sorting and recycling process, and this is probably the most concrete material realisation in our workstream so far.
Today we have defined and piloted a new Quality Recycling Process, recycling both PE and PP coming from post-consumer flexible packaging. As we speak, we have started industrial trials to generate the data which will enable us to build a robust recommendation for the value chain across Europe for sorting and recycling to implement this new Quality Recycling Process.
This was the starting point – to get new end markets you need to understand the end markets. What we started to obtain from this quality recycling process were new types of recycled polymers. We started this work and formed a collaborative team of the different value chain players to develop the new applications. We got converters and brand-owners involved and we have a very clear path forward to develop non-food packaging film.
The pilot trials have proved to be very successful and you’re now moving to industrial trials. How’re they going?
We’re running sorting industrial-scale trials and will continue with hot-washing trials and the extrusion with double filtration. All I can say now is that we have a very clear path forward to demonstrate sorting of plastic packaging waste by polymer and by colour, to get film-grade streams of PE or PP. From all the rest, which will not be film grade, we are developing injection moulding type applications.
We’re applying sorting and hot-washing, which is not yet implemented in the mainstream, even though some hot-washing lines are installed. Then, after hot-washing, we envision an extrusion with double filtration and refreshing steps which will eliminate most foreign polymers and contaminants.
I caught a CEFLEX presentation at K 2019. How do you plan to engage new stakeholders now that so many trade fairs have been postponed?
What I can say is that for the new end market applications , which are the end goal in developing a Quality Recycling Process, we plan to showcase the various packaging concepts which prove the use of recycled PE and PP from post-consumer flexible packaging in film. These are developed collaboratively by our stakeholders and we aim to showcase these in any event, either as CEFLEX or through our stakeholders to promote these solutions and the Quality Recycling Process as a key enabler. When we’re developing these applications for different end markets, we’re doing them in a very targeted way with concrete input from brand-owners. So, we’re going to showcase these solutions by specifying what kind of polymer was used and at what percentage so it becomes clear for the value chain that flexible packaging can be recycled.
With the aim of having a revolutionised collection, sorting and recycling infrastructure across Europe by 2025, how optimistic are you that you can achieve that?
Good question! If you’d have asked me a year ago I would have had to stay very humble, because we know how difficult it is to implement change. New plants would be more likely to implement this new Quality Recycling Process than existing plants.
But today, more and more sorting plants and recyclers are implementing parts of this Quality Recycling Process. It works with existing technology and it’s not rocket science. All you need is to want to recycle more and better.
In CEFLEX we look into connecting all the parts of the sorting and recycling into one comprehensive process to deliver this new quality in recycling by harnessing the power of collaboration from all the different players in the value chain. We’re going to be ready sometime next year to present the recommendation for the Quality Recycling Process from collection to new products, showcasing each step. I believe that those who are committed to lead in this field, and who understand the importance of a circular economy for flexible packaging, will go for it because the business case for investment will be provided.
I think what we’re doing at CEFLEX has real value because of its purpose and collaboration with so many industry experts. I have more than 35 years of professional experience, and I always liked my job, but what I’m doing now is extremely rewarding because I’m working with so many experts who are so passionate about plastics recycling and the plastics industry. Seeing all these companies engaging in CEFLEX and putting their resources in to work on solutions and sparing no effort, and sharing as openly as possible in an environment where there are competitors around the table, is refreshing and essential to creating a circular economy. I’m so happy and grateful to be a part of it.
