Nestlé’s (Vevey / Switzerland; www.nestle.com) Mexico branch has signed an agreement with Greenback Recycling Technologies (London / UK; www.greenback.earth) to build a chemical recycling plant for flexible plastic packaging in Mexico. The deal targets packaging not currently recycled, including multi-layer flexible and aluminium-laminated plastics. It also aims to meet technical and commercial requirements to ensure the circularity of food-grade plastics. Around 6,000 t of flexible plastic packaging is expected to be recycled in the first year alone, with volume and installed capacity to be expanded over time.

The plant will use a microwave-induced pyrolysis technology developed by Enval (Huntingdon / UK; www.enval.com), which transforms plastics into oil feedstock to produce new polymers. Enval claims it is the only technology in the world capable of recycling plastic aluminium laminates by splitting them into high-value oil and aluminium with a low-carbon footprint.

Nestlé will also invest to adapt Greenback’s data specialist platform “eco2Veritas”, which provides certification for traceability of the neutralisation and recycling process, to the Mexican waste ecosystem. In 2020, the Swiss company had announced two major investments: CHF 2 bn (EUR 1.85 bn) to increase its use of recycled plastics (see Plasteurope.com of 22.01.2020), and USD 30m (EUR 25.8m) in a fund for US companies that aim to increase recycling rates (see Plasteurope.com of 22.09.2020).