Berry-SABIC chemical recycling collaboration to spur circular polymer production

15 Nov 2019 --- Fortune 500 global plastic manufacturer Berry and global chemical industry leader SABIC have announced a collaboration to drive the innovation and use of polyolefin resins made from chemical recycling. Berry has already manufactured a recyclable, coextruded stand-up pouch containing 30 percent post-consumer resin (PCR) sourced from SABIC’s circular polymer. The company has committed to continue utilizing a portion of SABIC’s circular polymer, which has the potential to be used in polypropylene (PP) or polyethylene (PE) applications in its European consumer packaging facilities.

SABIC announced at the end of 2018 its intended project to build a semi-commercial unit in the Netherlands to refine and upgrade valuable feedstocks produced from the recycling of low-quality, mixed plastic waste.

During 2019, SABIC produced initial volumes of these certified circular polymers using its existing manufacturing facilities, from which Berry manufactured a recyclable, coextruded stand-up pouch containing 30 percent PCR.

A longtime partnership
Berry and SABIC share a longtime partnership and focus on their shared values of sustainability and the promotion of a circular economy. Earlier this year, Berry announced its sustainability strategy, Impact 2025, pledging to design 100 percent of its packaging to be reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025. As part of this commitment and in support of a circular economy, Berry is utilizing new and innovative methods to create more environmentally sustainable packaging.

Included in the supplier’s efforts is the collaboration with trusted suppliers to aid in the advancement of the packaging industry as a whole. For example, last month Berry announced that it will begin manufacturing plastic packaging containing Digimarc Barcodes as a collaborator in the new recycling initiative, HolyGrail 2.0.

“As a leader in sustainable packaging, we place a high value on innovation surrounding the methods by which we recover valuable plastic materials,” comments Tom Salmon, Chairman and CEO at Berry. “SABIC’s timeline for beginning semi-commercial production is one of the fastest we have seen in the industry and we were eager to join with them in initiatives that support circular economy.”

The known benefits of chemical recycling include the ability to recycle mixed plastic waste that would have otherwise been destined for landfill or incineration. Unlike mechanical recycling, the process of chemical recycling removes all contaminants, including inks and colorants, returning post-consumer plastic to a quality indistinguishable from virgin material, suitable for direct food contact.

“SABIC is proud to be the first petrochemical company to implement a project for the chemical recycling of challenging plastic waste into feedstock for steam crackers. This exciting project is a testament to our commitment to scale up advanced chemical recycling processes of plastics back to the original polymer,” adds Bob Maughon, Executive Vice President, Sustainability, Technology & Innovation at SABIC.

“This project is just one example of TRUCIRCLE, SABIC’s newly launched initiative to encompass circular materials and technologies to enable our consumers and product manufacturers to deliver greater sustainability.”

Berry’s support for chemical recycling is complemented by its growing list of sustainability initiatives, including being a signatory to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation New Plastics Economy Global Commitment, an active member of the Association of Plastic Recyclers and, together with SABIC, a founding member of the Alliance to End Plastic Waste.

“Complementary to mechanical recycling”
Robert Flores, Vice President of Sustainability for Berry indicates that chemical recycling is complementary to mechanical recycling. “We are excited about the potential of chemical recycling to recover harder to recycle materials and keep them in the circular economy.”

“As consumer demand for sustainable packaging continues to increase, we continue to advance the innovative ways by which we supply these markets. We anticipate chemical recycling will play a critical role in the reuse of valuable materials, keeping more plastics in the value chain and out of the waste stream,” concludes Salmon.

In other chemical recycling news, British multinational oil and gas company BP has developed an enhanced recycling technology, BP Infinia, that enables currently unrecyclable polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic waste to be diverted from landfill or incineration and instead transformed back into virgin-quality feedstocks. BP plans to construct a US$25 million pilot plant in the US in 2020 to “prove the technology,” before progressing to full-scale commercialization.

Meanwhile, the ChemCycling project involving Südpack, Zott, BASF and Borealis continues to progress. It has resulted in the development of a prototype Zott Gourmet Dairy flexible pack made from 100 percent recycled plastic.

More recently, Henkel has produced bottles using 100 percent chemically recycled plastic for the first time in collaboration with packaging manufacturer Alpla. Part of the ChemCycling project led by chemical producer BASF, Henkel will use the bottles as a pilot project for its Perwoll detergents.

Edited by Joshua Poole