PureCycle, Landbell Group working to advance PP recycling in Europe

PureCycle Technologies Inc., an advanced plastics recycler headquartered in Orlando, Florida, has announced a collaboration with Landbell Group, a global operator of more than 40 producer responsibility organizations (PROs) and a leading provider of closed-loop recycling solutions based in Germany. The companies say their partnership will help prioritize and expand recycling of polypropylene (PP) scrap into high-purity recycled resin that can be used in high-value and demanding applications across Europe.

According to PureCycle, its Belgium facility will be using its own form or dissolution recycling technology and experience from its flagship plant in Ironton, Ohio, which is expected to have an annual capacity of 48,600 tons once fully operational.

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PureCycle turns PP into a versatile, replenishable resource through a unique purification process involving multiple steps. The result is a recycled PP that can serve as a drop-in replacement to virgin PP. The company says its PureFive material can be recycled and reused multiple times and already is being used in commercial applications in the United States.

In January 2024, PureCycle Belgium and Landbell Group began working toward enabling the advanced recycling of PP in Europe. As part of their partnership, Landbell Group says it will use its expertise in the collection, sorting and processing of plastics in several European countries and will supply PP scrap from its household collections to PureCycle’s recycling facility in Antwerp. That facility has an expected annual capacity of 59,000 tons once operational.

“Our collaboration with Landbell Group represents a significant step to advance plastic circularity in Europe,” PureCycle Vice President of European and Asia Pacific Operations Wiebe Schipper says. “We’re proud to collaborate with another sustainably minded company that is committed to reducing plastic waste and creating a circular economy for plastics. PureCycle is looking forward to collaborating with the Landbell Group as we work to make dissolution recycling more widely available throughout the region.”

Through the partnership, Landbell Group says it will ensure the thermoplastic polymer, widely used in the packaging industry for food and beverage packaging and industrial and consumer goods packaging, is redirected toward high-quality recycling.

“By combining the innovative and robust approaches of PureCycle Technologies and Landbell Group in Europe, we will drive higher recycling rates and high-quality recycled PP, empowering producers to close the loop and to fulfill their new obligations from the PPWR,” says Uwe Echteler, chief operating officer of Landbell Group.