Henkel is cooperating with Mondi in the development of a composite material made from recycled plastics for flexible packaging. According to the Düsseldorf-based company, the Megaperls washing powders are now sold in „Quadro Seal Bags“ made from a flexible OPP/PE composite material. The PE layer of this packaging currently consists of 30 per cent recycled production residues from the Mondi plant in Halle. In total, such packaging therefore contains around ten per cent recycled granulate. Henkel and Mondi have not yet reached the final target: „We are aiming for a recycled pellet content of 50 per cent in the entire structure,“ says Timo Müller, Key Account Manager for Henkel at Mondi.
„We are working closely with our OPP film supplier to use orientated Polypropylene with recycled pellets to increase the percentage of recycled material in the entire composite structure,“ says Timo Müller. The resulting end product offers clear environmental benefits: virgin material is replaced by regranulate, and the product is easier to recycle at the end of its useful life, as the OPP/PE composite structure consists exclusively of polyolefin materials, Müller concludes.
Behind the „Factor 3“ cooperation project between Handle and Mondi is a plastics recovery technology introduced at Mondi's Halle plant that enables the company to collect and separate not only transparent and white materials, but also those without lubricants. This facilitates the use of recycled pellets in Laminated films, without affecting the material specifications and mechanical product properties
