kp will be using the recovered PET to create mono PET trays, thus creating a closed loop process. (Credit: plasticsinpackaging.com)
CEUS – Circular Economy for Urban Plastic Waste – has been established with a number of stakeholders working to avoid plastics from domestic general waste collections ending up in landfill that could otherwise be recycled, states an article on plasticsinpackaging.com.
The PET from CEUS is being used in trials with kp to demonstrate tray-to-tray recycling, and to encourage consumers to recycle all of their PET food packaging regardless of its condition. kp will be using the recovered PET from the trial to create mono PET trays that can be used for more food packaging, creating a closed loop process.
Other polymers and materials are being recovered and used by other stakeholders involved in the project. Over a four-year period, the scheme will be running several trials to see if the new sorting process methodology can be rolled out nationwide in Spain.
Ana Fernandez, global innovation director for food packaging, says that until now residues from the collection of mixed plastics materials from domestic general waste bins presented a particular recycling challenge.
“The CEUS project will research and trial new treatments that can transform and create value from domestic plastics waste for the first time,” she said.
Working on CEUS alongside kp are several companies across the full value chain: Urbaser for waste management, Acteco as a recycler, and converters Picda, Nortpalet and Erum.
