New cutting-edge technology turns low-quality plastics into new and improved plastics that can be used for food and beverages.
Coca-Cola has showcased its first test bottle made from recycled and recycled plastic from the sea, which makes it clear that in the future it will be possible to use sea waste to make recycled packaging for food and beverages.
Around 300 test bottles are made, each containing 25% recycled plastic. The plastic comes from the Mediterranean and associated beaches. In isolation, this is a small step in the right direction, but the technology behind it will make a big difference.
The bottle is designed to show the potential for change that lies in revolutionary technologies for improved recycling, where you can recycle used PET of any quality back to high quality plastic for food and beverage packaging. Enhanced recycling is a new technology that uses innovative processes to break down low-grade PET plastics, remove impurities and rebuild them, so that it has the qualities of virgin plastics.
Last but not least, the technology makes it possible to recycle the material to meet the high requirements for plastics to be used for food and beverages. This means that materials that would previously have been sent for incineration or to landfills now have a new life. It also means more material will be available to make recycled plastic products, which will reduce the proportion of oil-based plastics and contribute to a lower carbon footprint.
The test bottle is the result of a collaboration between Ioniqa Technologies, Indorama Ventures, Mares Circulares (Circular Seas) and The Coca-Cola Company. Although the technology associated with improved recycling is at the very beginning, the bottles are produced to show that the concept works and to demonstrate what kind of opportunities the technology can create in the future.
At present, improved recycling will be introduced on a commercial scale, using waste streams from existing recyclers, including previously unrecoverable plastics, as well as lower quality recycled materials. Coca-Cola plans to use this type of enhanced recycled material in some of its bottles as early as 2020.
On the road to zero waste
Bruno van Gompel, Supply Chain Director in Coca-Cola Western Europe, says the potential of the technology is huge: “Technologies for improved recycling are incredibly exciting, not just for us, but for industry and society in general. They bring us closer to the prospect of a closed plastic circuit, which is why we invest in these technologies. As technology scales, we will see that all kinds of plastic come back as good as new, not just once, but again and again. Thus, waste streams are diverted from incineration and landfill. "
Tonnis Hooghoudt, CEO of Ioniqa Technologies, the Dutch company that has developed the technology, says: - The opportunities offered by improved recycling will be noticeable at a global level. By partnering with Coca-Cola and Indorama to produce this bottle, we want to show what this technology can deliver. Our new production facility is now operational and we are scaling up this technology. By doing this, we want to remove the concept of disposable plastic and plastic waste, once and for all.
