NextLoopp project launched to close the loop on food-grade PCR-based polypropylene

Nextek’s eight-year period of extensive research to enable food-grade recycled PP to be produced from post-consumer waste has concluded with the successful launch of the NextLoopp project. This global multi-participant project aims to address a ‘missing link’ in the plastics recycling stream - polypropylene.

“Creating a circular economy for food-grade PP packaging waste fills the enormous gap in the packaging recycling sector and helps reach Net Zero Carbon targets,” said Professor Edward Kosior, founder and CEO of Nextek Ltd. “Our focus is on the efficient manufacturing of high-quality, food grade rPP for use in a wide range of processes and packaging.”

PP accounts for around 20 percent of the world’s plastic. In Europe, PP consumption is around10 million tonnes per year. While consumer packaging - pots, tubs, trays and films for food packaging - is a major application representing around 40%, it is also a common choice for non-food household and personal care products.  The UK alone uses some 700,000 tonnes/annum of the material.

Yet very little of this is recycled. At the end of life, PP packaging mainly goes to i waste-to-energy, landfill or isdown-cycled into low-performance applications. The absence of food-grade recycled PP (FGrPP) means that all PP food packaging is currently made from virgin plastics.

NextLoopp is tacking the problem with solutions that include commercially-proven marker technologies to separate food-grade PP and sophisticated decontamination stages to ensure compliance with food-grade standards in the EU and the USA.

The objectives of the two-year NextLoopp project are: demonstration of innovative sorting technology; preparation of protocols for EFSA and US FDA; implementation of sorting requirements for packaging in the recycling stream; mechanical reprocessing facilities for rPP food-grade as raw material in packaging. The first, high-quality FGrPP is expected to be available in the UK by 2022. 

The initiative has drawn 29 participants ranging from brand-owners, suppliers, universities and industry associations, through to end-users in the PP supply chain, as of 23 March 2021, while other multinational companies are soon to join.

Plastics Pact members in the UK such as WRAP and Viridor have both joined the project, as have custom packaging specialist Robinson Packaging, and plastic packaging manufacturers Sharpak Yate and Klöckner Pentaplast.

“NextLoopp is absolutely aligned with Robinson’s goals and those of our customers for closed-loop solutions, as well as governmental circular economy targets,” explained Lubna Edwards, Group Sustainability and Marketing Director at Robinson Packaging.

“Demand for this high-value recycled material will continue to rise as we shift away from using virgin material. Much of our UK business depends upon PP and this ground-breaking project gives us the opportunity to tap into cutting-edge technology, learn from industry partners and trial the material for sustainable use in our packaging.