Nova Chemicals launches mechanically recycled PE resin

Nova Chemicals Corp., Calgary, Alberta, has announced the launch of a mechanically recycled polyethylene resin (rPE), called EX-PCR-NC4, which the company says contains 100-percent-postconsumer-recycled PE.

Nova says the new resin offers highly versatile design flexibility, making it an ideal solution to lower the carbon footprint of packaging and address climate change. The company’s rPE is sourced from distribution center flexible film, which includes a blend of back-of-store stretch and front-of-store consumer drop-off. It says that source materials are processed with technology that results in a low-odor, consistent and stable product.

“Through customer trials and applications development at our Center for Performance Applications in Calgary, we have successfully incorporated our new rPE resin in various end-use formats,” Nova Chemicals Circular Economy Market Manager Anna Rajkovic says. “We’re excited to commercialize this resin and build a more sustainable polyethylene portfolio for our customers and brand owners.”

The company says commercial quantities of EX-PCR-NC4 are available.

“Our new rPE product line is the definition of a win-win,” Nova Chemicals Mechanical Recycling Director Alan Schrob says. “It provides converters and brand owners with a more sustainable packaging solution without compromising overall quality or strength. And, by utilizing rPE, we’re diverting plastic waste from landfills while also enabling a fully-recyclable new product—a true demonstration of circularity.”

Schrob adds, “We aim to deliver commercial quantities of consistent high-quality rPE products to meet the needs of our customers and the desires of the brand owners and consumers. Nova Chemicals continues to demonstrate leadership in providing sustainable polyethylene solutions, and we look forward to additional growth in this space.”