Erema helps PP, LDPE printed films reach recycling outcome

An alliance of several companies has worked together in Europe to collect postindustrial printed plastic films to create what the firms call a cost-effective solution that creates “high-quality recyclates comparable to virgin material.”

The PrintCYC alliance consists of machinery suppliers Germany-based Brückner Maschinenbau; Germany-based Kiefel; Switzerland-based PackSys Global; Germany-based cast polypropylene (CPP) film producer Profol; Germany-based ink manufacturer Hubergroup; Austria-based plastics converter Constantia Flexibles; and Austria-based plastic recycling and reprocessing technology provider Erema Group GmbH. According to Erema, the initiative has been coordinated by Annett Kaeding-Koppers, a packaging and sustainability consultant.

In phase one of the project, the base material of the packaging collected was printed biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP). The films include nitrocellulose (NC)-based ink formulations.

After what Erema calls “promising results” with those materials, PrintCYC members decided to test alternative ink formulations for printing on BOPP and low-density polyethylene (LDPE) films. Switching to a polyurethane (PU)-based ink system in phase two resulted in what Erema calls “significant improvements of the mechanical recycling process on a production line, which is typically used for reprocessing printed film [scrap] materials in practice.”

The recycled-content material produced by the process “showed excellent processability for the production of blown films, cast films and even biaxially oriented film, [that were] 100 percent comparable to virgin material,” states Erema.

PrintCYC members say they are presenting the results to other with a goal of gaining additional knowledge and new project partners. Another objective is to use the results for further development of Design for Recycling Guidelines, says Erema.