Creating a Circular Economy for PP

AI Quick Summary

The Circular Plastic Economy has the potential to substantially reduce the carbon footprint of plastic production and consumption. While for polymers like PET and PS recycling processes are available, the food-grade recycling of polyolefins still poses a major challenge. After successful small-scale tests on the material degradation of polypropylene (PP) we aim at bringing the value chain together for the much bigger challenge: Large-scale tests on the recyclability of PP and the creation of a PP cycle. This project focuses on closing the loop on polypropylene (PP), creating a truly circular economy. Closing the loop is a crucial step to substantially lower the CO2 emissions of polymers. Furthermore, circular plastics may enable safe food packaging while being resource friendly and less energy intensive. In this project, important knowledge on PP-recycling and available technologies will be compiled performing tests on PP packaging in cooperation with industry leaders. In laboratory tests, the compatibility of thermoformed and injection-moulded PP will be assessed by mechanical testing, while the large-scale tests (1200 kg) show a proof-of-concept on existing recycling infrastructure, which are both essential steps for closed-loop PP recycling.PP constitutes 20% of today’s polymers and is used in the automotive industry (13% of total PP), household, leisure, and sports section (20% of total PP), and packaging (46% of total PP). Food-packaging is one of the most important uses of PP. However, mechanical recycling of post-consumer food-grade PP today results in lower-quality PP being used outside the food packaging sector. However, the recycling of polymers is also being pushed by the EU, who’s new policies are expected to contain minimum requirements of secondary material contained in packaging. The upcoming need for secondary material may have the potential to substantially lower the current high costs for high-quality recycling by increasing the market demand for secondary plastics. A recent study, however, has highlighted the consequences of these limited application of secondary material and predicts that in 2025 worst-case only half of the PP recyclate can be utilized as secondary material. The use in food-contact application today is prohibited by regulation. With this research project, we aim at providing technical knowledge to enable a closed-loop mechanical recycling of PP for food-contact applications. Diverting waste streams to recycling facilities therefore creates added monetary and environmental value.With a total mass of PP packaging in Switzerland in 2017 of 92’000 t/a, we can estimate the tons of CO2 equivalent of the production and disposal. Currently, most PP packaging-waste is disposed of by burning, which creates an impact of around 570 kt CO2-eq/a. Our preliminary estimate shows, that replacing 80 % of primary material with recyclate creates an impact of only 230 kt CO2-eq/a, or a reduction of almost 60 % of emissions.This promising collaboration between circular economy experts for plastics (REDILO GmbH), science (KATZ), packaging producers (Greiner Packaging AG and SwissPrimePack) and brand owners (Emmi, Nestlé) started in 2021 and now will be taken into a second phase to enable fast innovation for a low-carbon PP cycle. The results generated in this project can be mirrored with REDILOs own large industry platform with almost 100 industrial partners to ensure knowledge dissemination and implementation of the results. The project includes two sets of tests with different foci, see description below. Both tests are crucial to assess the quality of the secondary material, as well as the feasibility of PP recycling on larger scales. While the laboratory tests at KATZ will be completed by the end of September, the large-scale tests take place in August with subsequent analysis at KATZ in October/November. The analysis will be completed by REDILO by December 2022.In the laboratory tests, the mechanical properties of 100 kg uncontaminated post-industrial packaging waste are evaluated. The material will be mixed according to the current consumption mix, shredded, re-granulated and reprocessed to perform tensile tests and buckling tests, as well as comparing thermoformed and injection-moulded specimen. These results will be crucial to conclude how non-contaminated PP can be recycled. This work-package builds the basis for the development of an appropriate recycling scheme. In parallel, we aim at testing currently existing recycling infrastructure with a well-defined input. These tests take place at InnoPlastics AG and are comprised of 1200 kg of contaminated pre-consumer Emmi Caffè Latte cups. Being contaminated with the product as well as potential missorted lids, the material mix represents a well-defined proxy for real-life circumstances. In this test, the material undergoes a shredding, washing, drying, and degassing procedure. The resulting fractions will be analysed at KATZ. This work-package will bring crucial insights into the scalability of the recycling of PP. Our industrial partners cover the 10% contribution to the NTN Innovation Booster Plastics for Zero Emission. They will also cover a substantial share of the experimental costs at KATZ and InnoPlastics of 16’000 CHF. The remaining experimental costs, as well as the staff costs will be covered by the NTN Innovation Booster seed-money of 25’000 CHF. These costs cover experiments at KATZ (laboratory tests: 5’300 CHF, large-scale: 5’000 CHF) and staff-costs at REDILO GmbH (14’700 CHF). The latter includes the organisation, analyses of measurements, knowledge dissemination and contextualisation as well as networking activities to foster a common understanding. The mandatory assessment of the CO2 reduction-potential will be done by REDILO GmbH as LCA expert in the plastic field. The project lead will be taken by Dr. Melanie Haupt and female colleagues will be integrated whenever possible.

Project Idea Metadata

Project Idea Name: Creating a Circular Economy for PP
Date: 3/31/2022 2:28:26 PM
Administrators:
- Melanie Haupt

Project Idea Description

This project focuses on closing the loop on polypropylene (PP), creating a truly circular economy. Closing the loop is a crucial step to substantially lower the CO₂ emissions of polymers. Furthermore, circular plastics may enable safe food packaging while being resource friendly and less energy intensive. In this project, important knowledge on PP-recycling and available technologies will be compiled performing tests on PP packaging in cooperation with industry leaders. In laboratory tests, the compatibility of thermoformed and injection-moulded PP will be assessed by mechanical testing, while the large-scale tests (1200 kg) show a proof-of-concept on existing recycling infrastructure, which are both essential steps for closed-loop PP recycling.

PP constitutes 20% of today’s polymers and is used in the automotive industry (13% of total PP), household, leisure, and sports section (20% of total PP), and packaging (46% of total PP). Food-packaging is one of the most important uses of PP. However, mechanical recycling of post-consumer food-grade PP today results in lower-quality PP being used outside the food packaging sector. However, the recycling of polymers is also being pushed by the EU, who’s new policies are expected to contain minimum requirements of secondary material contained in packaging. The upcoming need for secondary material may have the potential to substantially lower the current high costs for high-quality recycling by increasing the market demand for secondary plastics. A recent study, however, has highlighted the consequences of these limited application of secondary material and predicts that in 2025 worst-case only half of the PP recyclate can be utilized as secondary material. The use in food-contact application today is prohibited by regulation. With this research project, we aim at providing technical knowledge to enable a closed-loop mechanical recycling of PP for food-contact applications. Diverting waste streams to recycling facilities therefore creates added monetary and environmental value.

With a total mass of PP packaging in Switzerland in 2017 of 92’000 t/a, we can estimate the tons of CO2 equivalent of the production and disposal. Currently, most PP packaging-waste is disposed of by burning, which creates an impact of around 570 kt CO2-eq/a. Our preliminary estimate shows, that replacing 80 % of primary material with recyclate creates an impact of only 230 kt CO2-eq/a, or a reduction of almost 60 % of emissions.

This promising collaboration between circular economy experts for plastics (REDILO GmbH), science (KATZ), packaging producers (Greiner Packaging AG and SwissPrimePack) and brand owners (Emmi, Nestlé) started in 2021 and now will be taken into a second phase to enable fast innovation for a low-carbon PP cycle. The results generated in this project can be mirrored with REDILOs own large industry platform with almost 100 industrial partners to ensure knowledge dissemination and implementation of the results.

The project includes two sets of tests with different foci, see description below. Both tests are crucial to assess the quality of the secondary material, as well as the feasibility of PP recycling on larger scales. While the laboratory tests at KATZ will be completed by the end of September, the large-scale tests take place in August with subsequent analysis at KATZ in October/November. The analysis will be completed by REDILO by December 2022.

In the laboratory tests, the mechanical properties of 100 kg uncontaminated post-industrial packaging waste are evaluated. The material will be mixed according to the current consumption mix, shredded, re-granulated and reprocessed to perform tensile tests and buckling tests, as well as comparing thermoformed and injection-moulded specimen. These results will be crucial to conclude how non-contaminated PP can be recycled. This work-package builds the basis for the development of an appropriate recycling scheme.

In parallel, we aim at testing currently existing recycling infrastructure with a well-defined input. These tests take place at InnoPlastics AG and are comprised of 1200 kg of contaminated pre-consumer Emmi Caffè Latte cups. Being contaminated with the product as well as potential missorted lids, the material mix represents a well-defined proxy for real-life circumstances. In this test, the material undergoes a shredding, washing, drying, and degassing procedure. The resulting fractions will be analysed at KATZ. This work-package will bring crucial insights into the scalability of the recycling of PP.

Our industrial partners cover the 10% contribution to the NTN Innovation Booster Plastics for Zero Emission. They will also cover a substantial share of the experimental costs at KATZ and InnoPlastics of 16’000 CHF. The remaining experimental costs, as well as the staff costs will be covered by the NTN Innovation Booster seed-money of 25’000 CHF. These costs cover experiments at KATZ (laboratory tests: 5’300 CHF, large-scale: 5’000 CHF) and staff-costs at REDILO GmbH (14’700 CHF). The latter includes the organisation, analyses of measurements, knowledge dissemination and contextualisation as well as networking activities to foster a common understanding. The mandatory assessment of the CO2 reduction-potential will be done by REDILO GmbH as LCA expert in the plastic field. The project lead will be taken by Dr. Melanie Haupt and female colleagues will be integrated whenever possible.