Svensk Plaståtervinning is participating in the Flex Pack research project, which is being conducted in collaboration with RISE and several industry partners, including brand owners, plastic film manufacturers, printing ink suppliers and producer responsibility organisations.
The aim is to develop the recycling of printed flexible plastic packaging in order to obtain high-quality recycled materials that can replace virgin raw materials.
Project content
The work includes, among other things:
- Sortability tests and sorting by binder in printing inks and de-inking
- Collaboration with suppliers of printing ink that prints on films from plastic film manufacturers
- De-inking of prints
- Abrasion resistance tests to guarantee print performance
Recyclability will be tested both in the laboratory and on a pilot scale.
The goal is to develop a complete process for recycling printed flexible packaging – including a sorting solution that can identify and separate packaging that can be de-inked. The results will also include an estimate of the increased value that the new process can provide.
The project will run until 1 September 2026.
Why is the project important?
Flexible plastic packaging, such as bags and plastic film, accounts for approximately half of all household plastic packaging placed on the market. Most of these have direct printing, either covering the entire surface or parts of it.
Today, the material can be recycled, but because the direct printing cannot be washed off using current recycling processes, the quality is low. The recycled material is therefore mainly used for products such as bin bags and other applications with relatively low requirements on the material’s properties. This means that demand is relatively low.
The consequence of low demand is a lack of investment in recycling infrastructure. This makes it difficult to achieve the EU’s upcoming recycling targets in the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), such as the requirement for recycled material in packaging from 2030, and Recycling at Scale from 2035.
“We need to improve the current recycling infrastructure in order to achieve the targets, while at the same time reducing the need for virgin raw materials from fossil carbon sources,”
— Rickard Jansson, development engineer at Svensk Plaståtervinning and participant in the research project.
Focus on LDPE
The project focuses on packaging made mainly from LDPE (low-density polyethylene), which is the most common material in flexible plastic packaging. Examples include bread bags, wrapping for household and toilet paper, freezer bags and carrier bags.
For more information about the project, please contact Rickard Jansson:
Email: rickard.jansson@svenskplastatervinning.se
Tel: 0767- 99 90 18
