EU project CIRCULAR FoodPack

The industry has so far used flexible plastic multilayer composites made of various materials for packaging food, household and personal care products. Thanks to their barrier properties, these composites protect the packaged products from oxygen and moisture, for example, and therefore meet the high requirements in terms of safety and hygiene. Until now, however, it was not possible to separate the plastic layers from each other again, which made recycling difficult. In Europe, they are usually incinerated or end up in landfill sites. In addition, EU ^legislation1 prohibits the use of recycled material from non-food packaging for the production of new food packaging. But until now, no sorting system has been able to distinguish and separate food and non-food packaging in a mixed waste stream. In addition, there were no advanced physical recycling processes that could remove contaminants, discoloration and odors from the plastic multi-layer composite to ensure the required quality for reuse in flexible food packaging. The EU project CIRCULAR FoodPack has now successfully overcome this challenge.

Innovative sorting process for separating food and non-food packaging

With the innovative tracer-based sorting technology (TBS), the consortium has developed a sorting process for flexible food packaging that uses fluorescent tracers printed during production to distinguish between food and non-food packaging. The new sorting technology uses a laser to search for the near-infrared emissions of the fluorescent tracer in a mixed waste stream and sort out the detected food packaging accordingly.
This optical system can be easily and inexpensively retrofitted into existing sorting systems. In a series of large-scale tests, a uniform sorting purity of 99 percent was achieved for food packaging sorted using TBS technology.

High-quality recycling of post-consumer food packaging

Pre- and post-treatment technologies have been developed that can be used in a high-quality recycling cascade for plastic packaging. For the food packaging waste sorted by TBS, an innovative pre-treatment process successfully separated the plastic multilayer composites, including the "primer" used as a functional coating, using a water-based delamination and deinking process and removed 95 percent of the printing inks. The infrared deodorization technology removes volatile substances and also reduces the odor of the granulate by 95 percent. Using a solvent-based recycling ^process2 that dissolves polyethylene from laminates and separates it from various contaminants such as additives, printing inks and odors, the researchers were able to obtain high-quality recycled polyethylene from flexible packaging waste. This polyethylene post-consumer recyclate (PE PCR) is pure enough to be reused for the production of packaging for household and personal care products. And if the PE PCR is recovered from raw materials sorted using tracer technology, it could be used for new food packaging in the future, for safety behind newly developed "functional migration barriers" that effectively separate the recyclate from the food contact layers in new packaging.

Newly developed flexible mono-material packaging with up to 50 percent post-consumer recyclate content

The CIRCULAR FoodPack project has developed a concept for recyclable, flexible mono-material-based food packaging using polyethylene. The focus was on the integration of tracers for sortability and the use of polyethylene post-consumer recyclates (PE PCR) behind a functional migration barrier. In the initial phase of the project, extensive testing was carried out to develop the optimal migration barrier concept. The chosen approach uses a PCR layer in a sandwich structure between two functional barrier layers to prevent set-off migration and increase safety. The new tracers are integrated into the printing inks of the packaging, which can then be completely removed again during the washing/de-inking process in the packaging waste recycling process.
A packaging film with up to 50 percent PE PCR was produced on an industrial scale that meets the technical requirements for flexible food packaging. In addition, practical tests on the machinability of the film in the production of various packaging formats such as tubular bags, bottom gusset bags, stand-up pouches and sachets were successfully carried out.

The market supports CIRCULAR FoodPack's approach

The demand for innovative packaging solutions is growing rapidly, driven by a changing legislative landscape that is encouraging players to introduce new standards. Among these, PE PCR has emerged as a promising option. Processors at different levels of the value chain have expressed interest in the proposed packaging concept, recognizing its potential to achieve sustainability goals. In addition, feasibility studies for the various recycling routes have shown that the price of the recycled polyethylene from CIRCULAR FoodPack is competitive with the current market price for virgin polyethylene. In order to achieve broad consumer acceptance, the introduction of the new material must be accompanied by clear and effective communication. Consumers generally prefer sustainable packaging solutions, such as those offered by CIRCULAR FoodPack, and show a strong preference for recycled materials. The solution developed by the project is therefore both timely and highly marketable.

CIRCULAR FoodPack supports EU goals for a better circular economy

The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR)³, adopted by the European Parliament on November 27, 2024, aims to reduce packaging waste and increase the use of post-consumer recycled materials in packaging. In addition, the PPWR stipulates that all packaging must be recyclable by 2030.

"Our innovative and efficient sorting and recycling processes for post-consumer food packaging waste deliver high-quality and pure polyethylene recyclates that are suitable for use in new packaging for sensitive contents. We have demonstrated the economic and environmental viability of recycling flexible food packaging and assessed its social sustainability. With these technological innovations, we want to advance the circular economy in Europe, strengthen the recycling industry and make an important contribution to achieving the PPWR targets," says project coordinator Dr. Esra Kücükpinar from Fraunhofer IVV. "However, investments and further research are needed to implement the CIRCULAR FoodPack technologies in the industrial circular value chain and to further evaluate and improve the integration of PE PCR in food packaging."

About the EU project CIRCULAR FoodPack

The CIRCULAR FoodPack project, funded by the European Commission, was launched in June 2021. Until November 2024, it received around 5.4 million euros in funding from Horizon 2020, the previous EU Framework Program for Research and Innovation. The aim of the project was to develop innovative solutions for the recycling of complex multilayer plastic packaging for food. The project involved 15 companies and research institutions from Germany, Belgium, France, Greece, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland. CIRCULAR FoodPack was coordinated by the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV in Freising.

1 Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/1616 of 15 September 2022 on recycled plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with foods, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 282/2008
2 This process uses the CreaSolv® ^formulations jointly developed by the Fraunhofer IVV and CreaCycle. ^CreaSolv® is a registered trademark of CreaCycle GmbH, Grevenbroich.
3 Current version of the PPWR