— By Plasteurope.com correspondent — 

Austrian packaging manufacturer Coveris (Vienna; www.coveris.com) and UK environmental consultancy Nextek (London; www.nextek.org) have teamed up to “transform” mechanical recycling of flexible polyethylene and polypropylene film into high-quality food-grade recycled resins and films.

Nextek’s COtooCLEAN technology, which recently won the Circular Solutions for Flexibles award from the Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW, Singapore; www.endplasticwaste.org), harnesses carbon dioxide to decontaminate plastic film waste, which can then be reprocessed and used in the production of new food-grade film.

Coveris and Nextek are building a demonstration plant in the UK which will use the COtooCLEAN process at what the companies said would be “an industrial scale”.

In a joint statement, the two firms added that extensive trials were planned “to collect the data needed to meet regulatory requirements, along with the opportunity to demonstrate the technology to industry. The ultimate goal is to make this pioneering process available globally, helping tackle one of the toughest recycling challenges.”

Related: Coveris seals supply agreement with Interzero for recycling subsidiary ReCover

Edward Kosior, founder and chief executive of Nextek, said, “COtooCLEAN has the potential to transform plastic film recycling. Since winning the AEPW award, we’ve moved from prototype development to food-grade compliance trials.

“Partnering with Coveris is the next big step. Together, we’ll demonstrate this technology at scale and work toward a circular economy for plastic films.”

The Nextek collaboration is the latest move by Coveris in the development of recyclable film technology. Last November, it announced it was adding two production lines to its UK plant at Winsford. It said its recyclable PE films could be used for meat, fish, poultry, cheese, and baked goods.