Scholle IPN and Obbotec partner on chemically recycled flexible liquid packaging

20 Jul 2021 --- Flexible packaging supplier Scholle IPN is partnering with Obbotec, a Netherlands-based plastics firm specializing in advanced forms of chemical recycling technologies. 

The two companies will work on engineering and testing new chemical recycling methods focusing on flexible packaging like pouches and bag-in-box.

Specifically, Obbotec’s developments in integrated hydropyrolysis and selective plastic extraction methods provide unique solutions for the plastic waste problem, helping establish a circular economy for plastic packaging.

Liquid pack circularity
Ross Bushnell, president and CEO of Scholle IPN, says his team is focused on the supply of environmentally sustainable films, fitments, and equipment for flexible liquid packaging.

“We do that by engineering our products to align with the key principles of circular economics: source reduction, material reuse, and recycling,” he explains.

“The packaging industry has much work to do to achieve true circularity, but we believe the technology and processes Obbotec employs will help us to significantly improve in this area and, in turn, to make positive strides with respect to our impact on Earth’s climate and resources.”

Mixed plastics recycling
Wouter van Neerbos, Obbotec’s chairman, described the recycling methods the partners are pursuing: “Obbotec is a pioneer of two game-changing technologies, Spex and Hydrocat.”

“With Spex technology, or Selective Plastic Extraction, we employ a dissolution process to recycle in a circular manner,” outlines van Neerbos.Scholle IPN is focused on producing environmentally sustainable flexible liquid solutions like the Amazon-certified bag-in-box pictured here.

“We create a plastic-to-plastic system using both PE and PP materials, delivering high-quality yields while using minimal energy throughout the process.”

“Our Spex method of recycling can even deal with the most difficult materials like mixed plastics, multi-layer films, laminates, and foils; upgrading the resulting material into near-virgin plastic granules again.”

Plastic to fuel recycling
Meanwhile, Van Neerbos describes Obbotec’s Hydrocat technology as a third-generation hydrocracking process, which turns a mix of biological and plastic waste into distillates such as marine gas oil and naphtha crude oil.

“Hydrocat helps us take products which might normally end up in landfills and turn them into usable fuel products.”

Scholle IPN and Obbotec have begun sharing scientific data and will soon begin joint trials, pushing a wide range of film and fitment products through these recycling technologies.

“The resulting analysis will help both companies develop next-generation solutions that can truly move the needle toward a circular economy in flexible packaging,” concludes Bushnell.

According to Rabobank, advanced recycling plants are likely to double to around 140 plants globally by 2025 as regulatory and public demand for recycled plastics packaging drives “huge” investment.

In other Scholle IPN news, the supplier recently released a bag-in-box pack for liquid products certified by Amazon as “ship in own container.”

Edited by Joshua Poole