The Bottle4Flex project aims to develop 100 per cent recyclable skin pack packaging made from rPET. The Spanish centre for plastics technology Aimplas is working together with film packaging manufacturer Covinil and the Spanish supermarket chain Eroski.
In the European Union, all plastic packaging must be recyclable by 2030. One current challenge is restricting the use of recycled materials in food packaging. In order to ensure food safety, Spain, for example, has introduced only recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) as post-consumer recycled material for food packaging authorised. In addition, many flexible PET packaging products cannot be recycled using conventional mechanical technologies due to their multi-layered structure.
The plastics technology centre Aimplas, film manufacturer Covinil and the retail chain Eroski have therefore launched the Bottle4Flex project to develop 100% recyclable flexible skin pack packaging made from rPET. Through Innovations in the field of chemical recycling and polymerisation technologies the project consortium aims to overcome the challenges of recycling multi-layer flexible PET packaging. The research project is funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Higher Education and the European Union through Next Generation Funds as part of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan and will run until September 2025.
The Bottle4Flex project focuses on promoting solvolysis processes for recycling and changing the properties of PET through partial depolymerisation. Innovative technologies such as reactive extrusion, monomers and additives will also be utilised, to increase the flexibility of recycled PET. The aim is to develop efficient, sustainable methods that promote the recyclability of plastics.
Source: Aimplas
