The four-year project is supported by the Dutch Ministry of Climate Policy and Green Growth. Industrial scaling is planned from 2030 in line with the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR).
From 2030, packaging placed on the EU market must include defined minimum levels of recycled content. Alpla and NTCP aim to provide a scalable technical solution for food packaging made from recycled HDPE (rHDPE). The process is designed to produce food-grade rHDPE on an industrial scale. Following several years of research and development, the partners have started process evaluation at NTCP’s site in Heerenveen.
The project includes detailed testing of all steps of the patented recycling process. The objective is to support an application for approval by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). The pilot plant will provide data for industrial scaling. For this purpose, Alpla has established a recycling company in the Netherlands.
Alpla currently produces PET and HDPE recyclates at 14 recycling sites worldwide and has an installed and expected output capacity of around 400,000 tonnes per year. Most of the recyclate is used in the company’s own packaging production. The planned industrialisation of the solvent-based process is intended to increase the availability of food packaging made from rHDPE for the FMCG sector.
