Ineos installs new recycling tech to slash flexible plastic landfilling 

28 Jun 2024 --- Ineos Olefins & Polymers Europe has become the “world’s first” polymer producer to successfully commission a pilot line to co-develop recyclable flexible packaging films with its customers. The company claims that the multi-million euro investment could help prevent around one million tons of waste from being landfilled annually. 

The new multilayer, blown film line with Machine Direction Orientation (MDO) has been installed at Ineos’ R&D center in Brussels, Belgium. It is designed to enable customers to carry out full-scale tests without losing production capacity on their own lines. 

The technology was supplied by the German machinery company Hosokawa Alpine. It heats and stretches polymer films to improve their physical and barrier properties, enabling them to be used in different product applications.

“Flexible packaging films play a valuable role in society, but we recognize and share people’s concerns about plastic waste,” says Rob Ingram, CEO of Ineos Olefins & Polymers Europe. 

“Every day we work alongside stakeholders across the value chain who share our commitment to a circular economy, developing more sustainable solutions to consumers’ needs. Fully recyclable films are a big development and I’m excited about the possibilities created by our investment in this new MDO line.” 

Flexible films provide lightweight, low-emission packaging for transporting goods, increasing the shelf life of food products. However, today’s multi-material packaging films combine different polymers, each performing different functions, which, in combination, make the film difficult to recycle. 

Making simpler films with the same performance means new packaging can be more easily recycled, helping companies meet the requirements of the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation.