In order to meet market demands for increased use of recyclate, packaging manufacturer ANL (Wellen / Belgium; www.anlplastics.com) announced it would use mainly recycled PET starting autumn 2019. For customers who prefer virgin plastics, this option will remain available. Since the 1960s, ANL has been using internal recyclate from production scrap recovered from its thermoforming manufacturing process. The decision to use more rPET means it would now purchase recyclate from external sources, the company said. ANL’s rPET films for food applications have three layers, the innermost of which can consist of up to 80% recycled material.

ANL said it had installed solid state polycondensation (SSP) machinery “several years ago” to upgrade recycled PET and remove chemical impurities, giving it food-grade rPET approved by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA, Parma / Italy; www.efsa.europa.eu).

In separate news, the company announced that it has changed its name to ANL Packaging with effect from mid-October 2019. This move, says ANL, reflects its focus on hybrid packaging solutions and recycling into new raw materials.