Nova Chemicals Corporation has developed and commercialised introduced its first three grades of 100% post-consumer polyethylene resins, suitable for a range of flexible film applications. The offering includes a natural linear low/low density polyethylene PCR , derived from waste collected from distribution centers and is suitable for collation shrink, stretch wrap and e-commerce applications; a natural rLLDPE/LDPE, made from recycled agricultural film for re-use in agricultural films, heavy-duty shipping sacks, collation shrink, and for e-commerce applications; and a white rLLDPE PCR manufactured from closed-loop agricultural and irrigation film recyclate.
The new grades will allow Nova’s customers to integrate more PCR into packaging applications without sacrificing performance, said Greg DeKunder, vice president, polyethylene marketing, NOVA Chemicals,
“Our goal is for NOVA Chemicals to be a one-stop resource, providing the products and technical resources companies need to achieve their sustainability goals.”
To that end, the company has also recently entered into two supply agreements with recyclers.
One of these is Revolution, a manufacturer of plastic films for a variety of consumer and industrial products and packaging, which they recapture after use to recycle and reuse in new products. Under this exclusive agreement, Revolution supplies a portion of this “closed-loop” LLDPE/LDPE PCR to Nova Chemical for use in packaging applications.
The partnership with Merlin Plastics includes providing financing for a multi-million-dollar project to accelerate Merlin’s further expansion into PCR for food contact applications. In this way, Nova is working to secure a reliable supply to offer to its customers. The HDPE PCR resins derived from this are suitable for use in everyday products and packaging, including food applications.