Mondi tests sortation of monomaterial PP pouches

The testing revealed that the company’s monomaterial polypropylene pouches and rollstock can be sorted into appropriate recycling streams.

Mondi retort pouches
Mondi’s monomaterial retort pouches can be effectively sorted during recycling.
Mondi

Mondi, a global packaging and paper producer with headquarters in Austria and the United Kingdom, has completed a series of tests to prove its monomaterial polypropylene (PP) pouches and rollstock material can be sorted into their appropriate recycling streams. Implemented in collaboration with the National Test Centre Circular Plastics (NTCP) in the Netherlands, these tests, simulating realistic packaging waste management conditions, were designed to determine the sortability of Mondi’s recyclable PP packaging.

According to a news release from Mondi, the company tested premade retort and standard pouches, spouted pouches and top-web and thermoformed semirigid tray material. These are made from PP and used for demanding applications that require a high barrier protection, such as wet pet food or processed meat.

Replicating real-life scenarios, the tests revealed that Mondi’s top web and thermoformed semirigid trays are successfully sorted into the correct recycling stream. Mondi’s premade pouches also were detected accurately, setting the standard for sorting streams, which still need to be developed throughout Europe, supporting high-quality input for plastic recycling processes.

“We conduct independent tests and experiments that contribute to closing the plastics cycle,” says Marcel van Eijk, research and development manager at NTCP. “By replicating real-life situations for Mondi, we were able to thoroughly assess the sortability of its packaging products. We could prove that top-web and tray combinations can be recognized in different sorting streams and Mondi’s standup pouches support sorting strategies that need to be developed and implemented at larger scale.”

Thomas Kahl, channel manager of fast-moving consumer goods & industrial at Mondi Flexible Packaging, says to achieve the plastics recycling targets defined in the European Commission’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive, sortation and recycling of plastic scrap must be “significantly improved.”

“As a market leader, we are strongly committed to contribute to this target by testing the sorting performance for our packaging,” Kahl says. “The outcome of the tests show that our monomaterial polypropylene packaging is recognized and categorized into the correct sorting stream in advanced waste management facilities. We are particularly proud that we also succeeded for demanding applications, such as retort wet pet food pouches.”

The tests are part of the company’s Mondi Action Plan 2030 sustainability commitments to deliver circular-driven solutions with innovative packaging and paper solutions, keeping materials in circulation and preventing waste. Mondi has pledged to make all its packaging and paper solutions reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025, working closely with cross-value chain collaborations, such as the Circular Economy for Flexible Packaging and 4evergreen, to eliminate unsustainable packaging and develop harmonized designs for recycling or circularity guidelines.

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