SUSTAINABILITY tech specialist Nextek and flexible packaging business Coveris have teamed up to boost the mechanical recycling of flexible films with a ‘breakthrough’ innovation – the COtooCLEAN process.
Together, the businesses aim to convert post-consumer polyolefin (PE & PP) packaging waste into high-quality food-grade recycled resins and films.
The collaboration builds on Nextek’s success in winning the ‘Circular Solutions for Flexibles’ award from the Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW). This was in recognition of the company’s COtooCLEAN technology, which uses a waterless cleaning and decontamination process to produce food-grade recycled materials from post-consumer plastic film.
As part of the partnership between Nextek and Coveris, a demonstration plant is now being developed in the UK, which will implement the COtooCLEAN technology at industrial scale. Trials will collect the data needed to meet regulatory requirements, along with the opportunity to demonstrate the technology to industry.
Professor Edward Kosior, CEO and founder 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.”
Christian Kolarik, CEO of Coveris, added, “We’re really a frontrunner in this topic and we are thrilled to collaborate with Nextek on this project – a breakthrough in food-grade mechanical recycling. Sustainability is at the heart of Coveris’ ‘No Waste’ strategy, and this partnership is another milestone in ending plastic waste. Together with our ReCover recycling entity and our collaboration with Interzero, we are taking bold steps towards turning waste back into a valuable resource.”
