Green news: Borealis/Borouge launch brand for mechanically recycled solutions; Alpla secures grant and sets up recycling plant for food-grade rHDPE

Polymer firm Borealis and Borouge have announced the launch of Recleo, a new global brand for mechanically recycled polyolefins suited for a broad range of polyolefin (PO) applications. Recleo unites post-industrial (PIR) and post-consumer (PCR) recyclates and compounds in one portfolio, making it simpler for customers in industries such as mobility, building and construction, appliances, infrastructure, and consumer goods to source sustainable materials, the companies say.

The Recleo brand complements the Borcycle M portfolio ofpremium mechanically recycled polyolefins, which are based exclusively on post-consumer waste, while grades in the Recleo portfolio are made from verified PIR and PCR plastic waste streams.

Recleo also supports compliance with evolving regulatory requirements, including upcoming targets in the new EU End-of-Life Vehicle Regulation (ELVR) and the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR). . Many grades in the portfolio are RecyClass certified and produced in accordance with the IATF 16949 quality management standard. 

Recleo is available worldwide, and supported by the companies’ global network. Recleo in combination with the full Borealis and Borouge virgin PO portfolio is able to increase recycling content in all kinds of processing technologies, especially in film and other extrusion technologies.

Meanwhile in other news, German packaging firm Alpla is working on a solution for food-safe HDPE recycled material. The company says it is now evaluating the patented solvent-based process at a pilot plant in Heerenveen in collaboration with the independent technological institute NTCP.

The innovation project, which is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Climate Policy and Green Growth, will run for four years. Just in time for the start of the PPWR2030, the solution will be scaled up to industrial production. 

Following several years of R&D with successful laboratory results, the two project partners have just started evaluating the solvent-based process at the NTCP site in Heerenveen.

Intensive testing of all process steps of the patented technology will be performed as part of a collaborative innovation project. The aim is to obtain approval from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in the near future. The construction and operation of the pilot plant will provide valuable insights for scaling up the process. 

Alpla has also set up its own recycling company in the Netherlands for this purpose.

The company already produces PET and HDPE recycled material in its own recycling division at 14 locations worldwide, with 400 000 tonnes installed and projected recycling output capacity. 

It processes most of this material itself into packaging.

The future industrialisation of this new technology should enable readily available food packaging made from rHDPE for the FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) market, it adds.

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