Viridor partners with Nextek to recycle black food trays in the U.K.

Up until now, it has not been possible to recycle black plastics commonly found in supermarket packaging due to the use of a carbon black pigment that prevent packaging from being recognized and sorted by existing global recycling technologies

Nextek,  a U.K.-based firm that provides consulting work in the design, optimization, processing and recycling of plastics materials, has received funding from WRAP, that has allowed the company to create a new black pigment system, which can be used without using carbon black.

The result is that the packaging trays can now be sorted by existing near infrared (NIR) technology.

To test out the new development, trays made with this system have been processed at Viridor’s £15 million (US$18.7 million) plastics recycling facility in Medway, Kent, U.K.

Viridor notes that its national network of high-tech plants has no problem sorting most plastics. But, the current generation of ready meal or meat trays do not reflect light, making it impossible for existing recycling technology in Europe to detect.

Sarah Heald, director of corporate affairs and investor relations at Pennon, Viridor’s parent company, says, “Viridor is constantly working on solutions to simplify Britain’s maze of recycling systems, to cut collection costs to council tax payers and to align next generation resources with the needs of U.K. industry.

“Working with Nextek has allowed us to test the potential for a new U.K. technology to transform the global problem of supermarket black plastic packaging into a new recycling stream.”

“We are committed to working with manufacturers, packaging designers and supermarkets to accelerate innovation – using less packaging, designing in recyclability then simplifying recycling systems so that everyone can do the right thing and put the right stuff in the right bin.”

Professor Edward Kosior of Nextek described the collaboration with Viridor and the cooperative as a potential breakthrough in tackling the global black plastic problem. “Bringing together all the main parties for the first time, from us as technology innovator, to the co-op as retailer, and Viridor as the recycler is momentous.

“I’m confident that together we have found a technology solution to end these trays filling up landfills. This is a technology that can work immediately in virtually all recycling facilities across U.K., Europe and the United States.”