NEXTLOOPP consortium trials food-grade recycled PP in BOPP film
The NEXTLOOPP consortium, with Turkish film producer Süper Film and Brückner Maschinenbau, has completed pilot-line trials processing food-grade recycled polypropylene into biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) film under standard commercial conditions. The trial reached 20 percent recycled content in a five-layer coextruded film without film breaks, using feedstock from Mexican recycler Alcamare. The consortium's next step is a trial at full commercial production speed on a Süper Film production line.
Why this mattersBOPP has had no food-grade recycling route until now, giving converters and brand owners a path to meet EU PPWR recycled-content mandates.
- Trial achieved 20% total recycled content in a five-layer coextruded BOPP film of around 25 microns
- The pilot line ran with no film breaks and only minor adjustment to standard process parameters
- Tensile strength was about 10% lower than a 100% virgin reference roll but remained within specification
- Feedstock was food-grade recycled PP from Mexican recycler Alcamare, sourced from a single, tightly controlled stream
- Trials were run on Brückner Maschinenbau's BAL pilot line after laboratory extrusion and KARO stretcher tests
- Next step is a trial at full commercial BOPP production speed on a Süper Film production line
Sources
packagingeurope.com