MONDI has announced it has carried out a series of tests to prove its mono-material polypropylene (PP) pouches and rollstock material can be sorted into their appropriate recycling streams.
Implemented in collaboration with the National Test Centre Circular Plastics (NTCP) in the Netherlands, these tests, which Mondi said simulate ‘realistic’ packaging waste management conditions, were designed to determine the sortability of the firm’s recyclable mono PP packaging.
The tests were carried out on pre-made retort and standard pouches, spouted pouches, and top web and thermoformed semi-rigid tray material. These are made from mono PP-material and used for applications that require a high barrier protection, such as wet pet food or processed meat.
Replicating ‘real-life scenarios’, Mondi added that the tests prove that the company’s top web and thermoformed semi-rigid trays are successfully sorted into the correct recycling stream. Mondi’s pre-made pouches were also detected accurately.
Thomas Kahl, channel manager FMCG & industrial at Mondi Flexible Packaging, said, “To achieve the plastic recycling targets defined in the revised PPWD, the sorting and recycling of plastic waste must be significantly improved. As a market leader we are strongly committed to contribute to this target by testing the sorting performance for our packaging.
“The outcome of the tests show that our mono-material polypropylene packaging is recognised and categorised into the correct sorting stream in advanced waste management facilities. We are particularly proud that we also succeeded for demanding applications such as retort wet pet food pouches.”
Mondi has pledged to make all of its packaging and paper solutions reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025, working with collaborations like CEFLEX and 4evergreen, to eliminate unsustainable packaging and develop ‘harmonised designs’ for recycling or circularity guidelines.
Marcel van Eijk, R&D manager at NTCP, added, “We conduct independent tests and experiments that contribute to closing the plastics cycle. By replicating real life situations for Mondi, we were able to thoroughly assess the sortability of its packaging products. We could prove that top-web and tray combinations can be recognised in different sorting streams and Mondi’s stand-up pouches support sorting strategies that need to be developed and implemented at larger scale.”
