Packaging from post-consumer recycled plastic: Mondi achieves pouch prototype

12 Jun 2019 --- Project Proof, an Ellen MacArthur Foundation Pioneer Project led by Mondi, has developed a usable pouch prototype containing 20 percent post-consumer waste, bringing “flexible packaging one step closer to a circular economy.” The pouch is suitable for packaging household products such as detergent and is made from mixed household waste. Mondi will now develop the prototype further to ensure it can be rolled out as a commercially viable product for FMCG customers, with an estimated time-frame of two months. The work also supports Mondi’s position as a signatory of the New Plastics Economy Commitment, and to ensure a minimum of 25 percent of post-consumer waste is incorporated across all its flexible plastic packaging where food contact regulations allow by 2025.

This proof-of-concept underlines the potential of what could be manufactured when better quality, pre-sorted materials are used as input. Better waste collection mechanisms and a focus on packaging designed for recycling will improve this process and help close the sustainability loop, according to the company.

Speaking on the commercial roll-out, Judith Wronn of Mondi, tells PackagingInsights, “Industrial trials with brand owners are currently taking place for phase two – a fully recyclable, recycled content pouch, which we would expect to be on the market before the end of the year.”

Project Proof is part of Mondi’s commitment to the Ellen MacArthur New Plastics Economy Initiative. It is focused on designing products in line with circular economy principles and has shown that it is possible to use unclean and raw post-consumer recycled content to create new flexible packaging. 

“We believe that working in partnership is key to finding a solution for plastic waste by driving innovation and broad systemic change throughout the plastics value chain with a focus on replacing, reducing and recycling,” says Georg Kasperkovitz, CEO, Mondi Consumer Packaging.

Mondi spearheaded Project Proof to examine whether it is possible to produce two new flexible plastic packaging products: a recyclable plastic for flexible packaging made with a percentage of post-consumer waste; and a form fill and seal (FFS) pouch for food applications. Aiming to replace multilayer laminates, often found in food packaging, and therefore increasing recyclability. As the use of recycled materials and the creation of more recyclable plastics in flexible packaging increases in popularity, they will help circularity in the marketplace.

Recycling with post-consumer material
The origins of the post-consumer waste used in the pouch prototype were considered the worst-case of uncleaned and unprocessed material possible, Mondi says. After washing and sorting using a variety of technologies, the result was a recycled polymer resin, suitable for producing flexible packaging. 

This was processed into a final prototype, a fully-usable stand-up pouch. The pouch has strong construction, seal strength and zipper integrity. Its appearance is reminiscent of recycled paper with the mixed plastic material creating little flecks of inconsistent coloring, Mondi describes.

“We wanted to see what was possible with the worst input, and we were able to create a fully usable prototype,” explains Graeme Smith, Mondi Consumer Packaging’s Sustainability Manager.

“Key challenges with this product were being able to sort recycled materials to a high enough quality and then taking this material and processing it to meet the visual and technical expectations of our customers and fundamentally, the end consumer. Having a recycled material clean enough to use, production equipment and skill level to process it consistently and quality control mechanisms and protocols to ensure a high level of product is maintained, are all critical to the process,” adds Wronn.

Creating recyclable pouches for food packaging
The second part of Project Proof focused on long-life food pouches. The standards for food applications were held to high technical specifications agreed by the participating FMCGs. The aluminum barrier often found in food-standard plastic packaging can extend shelf-life, but creates problems in recycling. Project Proof created an opportunity for FMCG’s to re-evaluate and possibly reduce the specifications for certain requirements allowing more sustainable materials to be used. 

There are already materials being tested based on a mono-material construction without problematic layers such as aluminum, which would make recycling possible in existing waste-streams. It was concluded that further development in this area was required as current offerings did not achieve the basic minimum specifications set by the brand owners. Joint Development Agreements are being discussed for future research opportunities in this area.

Moving forward: Pioneer projects
Today’s plastics packaging solutions face challenges that no single organization can address alone, according to the company. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation established Pioneer Projects as a means for the plastics industry to work together towards these solutions. Pioneer Projects are pre-competitive collaborations led by members of the New Plastics Economy Initiative, such as Mondi. Stakeholders from across the plastics value chain are invited to design and test innovations that could change the way we make, use, and reuse plastics based on the principles of a circular economy. 

This provides a place for competitors to share knowledge in a secure way resulting in progress which would otherwise not be possible. As the facilitator of these projects, the foundation encourages circular economic thinking at all times to promote the generation of ideas that can be used by all. 

This sentiment is echoed by Ryan Jesse, CEO of Breakdown Plastic, who tells PackagingInsights how “a lot of industries must work together to offer their solution. There is no one savior for plastic waste, just like our technology alone will not solve the problem. It needs to be a joint effort and not a competition.” https://www.packaginginsights.com/news/the-organic-polymers-that-ingest-landfill-plastic-and-leave-behind-only-microbe-poop.html

Mondi also has developed a fully recyclable stand-up pouch made of a monomaterial (polyethylene) with a removable wrap-around label. The landmark design overcomes many shortcomings in the recycling process and is the result of a joint four-year effort by Mondi, Werner & Mertz, EPEA Switzerland (Cradle to Cradle), Der Grüne Punkt – Duales System Deutschland and Institut cyclos-HTP to transition flexible packaging to a circular model. The design is based on Mondi and Werner & Mertz’s initial patented innovation: a 100 percent recyclable polyethylene pouch with detachable decorative panels. The pouch replaces conventional flexible packaging for Frosch products.