MOSCOW (MRC) -- Packaging producer Berry Global Group, Inc. (Evansville, Indiana) says it will break ground in September on a new polypropylene (PP) recycling facility in Leamington, United Kingdom, that it says will produce food-grade materials with a target purity standard of 99.9%, according to Recycling Today.
The new facility will be housed in a purpose-built, net-zero carbon, centrally located 13,000-square-meter, or 139,931-square-foot facility, offsetting CO2 emissions with local tree planting.
CleanStream is Berry’s proprietary process to mechanically process PP back into consumer packaging. This facility will use automated sorting processes, integrating online sensor technologies and machine learning algorithms to separate PP containers, tubs and trays.
This investment is complementary to Berry’s previous work in securing circular resins through advanced recycling and its buying power, the company says.
The team at Berry has conducted an initial life cycle assessment quantifying the benefits of its proposed recycled polypropylene (rPP) process over the use of virgin PP. The material produced through the CleanStream process has an 80% lower CO2 footprint than virgin resin. Packaging produced from this rPP material will result in 35% less CO2 emissions, require 50% less water consumption, result in 60% less acidification and reduce fossil fuel resource use by 90%, according to the company.
As MRC informed earlier, in January 2021, Berry Global Group announced that Madrid-based Repsol, its longtime supplier, will supply it with circular resins. The Spanish multienergy global company will supply Berry with International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) Plus-certified circular polyolefins from its Repsol Reciclex range. These polyolefins are obtained by advanced recycling, enabled by the adoption of new chemical recycling technologies, of postconsumer plastic scrap not suitable for traditional recycling. As a result of the agreement, Berry says it will procure food-grade PP for food and health care packaging. The packaging company will initially use the materials in manufacturing at its European packaging facilities.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,176,860 tonnes in the first half of 2021, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.
Berry Global Group, Inc. create innovative packaging and engineered products. Harnessing the strength in its diversity and industry leading talent of 47,000 global employees across more than 295 locations, the company partners with customers to develop, design, and manufacture innovative products with an eye toward the circular economy.
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