MIA Member Charpak work with Unilever and HSSMI on cutting edge recycling project

• reduce landfill and incineration
• recycle waste into new, sustainable plastics
• expand the range of plastics being recycled.

These plants will increase the available recycling capacity in the UK reducing the amount being sent to landfill or incineration, or exported overseas for disposal.

The £20 million investment from the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, along with over £65 million of industry investment, represents the largest investment the UK has made in plastic packaging recycling technologies.

Veolia in collaboration with Unilever, Charpak Ltd and HSSMI will develop the UK’s first dual PET bottle and tray recycling facility (supported by a digital twin created by HSSMI), capable of recycling 100% of clear rigid PET in a closed-loop system.

Unilever will investigate the non-food contact recycled PET produced from this facility in its home and personal care range, so avoiding the use of food contact grade material in these non-food products.

Charpak Ltd will use the flakes produced in its trays, making tray to tray recycling a reality.

This will create a new, complementary non-food closed loop for recycled PET and widen availability of the material for use in bottles and trays.

Through the development and use of the digital twin, HSSMI will pioneer a virtual engineering approach in the waste industry, which will help optimise the facility and identify potential commercial challenges.

If initial trials are successful, the proposed facility would process 35,000tpa of mixed PET packaging waste at an existing Veolia site.

Paul Smith Managing Director of Charpak Ltd said; “As a business, Charpak Ltd has been at the forefront of driving sustainability in plastic packaging. UK users across their range are looking to improve the sustainability of packaging. This UKRI grant will allow Charpak Ltd to fully research and test the process before launching to the wider market. The benefits for the environment are huge, with less plastic waste being burnt, landfilled or shipped abroad. We are hopeful that this project will lead to a true Tray to Tray recycling scheme to create better circularity with the attendant cut in emissions keeping this precious resource local to be used again and again. Anything that improves recycling rates is to be applauded.”

More information here.