GREENBACK Recycling Technologies and Amcor recently welcomed Mary Creagh CBE MP, the UK’s nature and circular economy minister, to Amcor’s Heanor facility for the official commissioning of the first UK deployment of Greenback’s Enval advanced recycling module.
The visit highlighted the importance of the work on circular plastics being done by both firms, in association with the Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW), to trial this new technology which can recycle post-consumer flexible plastics into food-grade circular plastics feedstock.
The advanced recycling process under trial at the Heanor facility is evaluated by eco2Veritas traceability platform, which uses AI and IoT devices to capture data from the receipt of waste through to the production of pyrolytic oil. The oil carries a digital certificate of provenance, providing data for mass-balance allocation as the oil is then converted into recycled plastics.
This step marked the completion of Greenback’s Enval module installation and is the first time the company’s modular advanced recycling technology is hosted by a global packaging leader in Europe. The collaboration with Amcor aims to showcase the potential for co-locating modular recycling units within existing industrial infrastructure.
The Heanor site was selected because of its expertise in the use of recycling technologies. The facility already has a role in converting post-consumer and industrial flexible plastic waste, via mechanical recycling, into recycled polymers. These are used in Amcor’s flexible packaging applications across multiple markets.
Adding the Enval advanced recycling process creates new opportunities to recycle post-consumer flexible plastics.
Mary Creagh MP said, “This is an exciting example of how shared action between government and the private sector can tackle the world’s plastic waste mountain through innovation, infrastructure investment and collaboration. This commissioning reflects the government’s broader ambition to build a resilient, circular economy by reusing the plastics which already exist.”
Philippe G. von Stauffenberg, founder and CEO of Greenback, added, “This commissioning demonstrated how collaboration and innovation can accelerate scalable circular solutions. We are proud to work with Amcor and government stakeholders to scale technologies that keep plastics in the economy and out of the environment. We also want to thank the Alliance to AEPW for their support in reaching this milestone.”
Andrew Green, VP, Amcor Flexibles EMEA, commented, “The trial of this pioneering technology at Heanor reinforces our commitment to improving circularity for flexible packaging and supporting UK policy objectives for a more sustainable future.”
