Circular Economy Solutions

Polyolefin

What is Polyolefin?

Polyolefins mainly include polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) in the packaging sector

Polyolefins are easy to process and inexpensive to produce.

These polymers are used to manufacture numerous plastic articles such as hoses, plastic sheets, outer packaging and films, housings for household and electronic appliances or plastic containers.

Recycling polyolefins can be a challenge.

Plastic waste is often mixed with impurities such as paint, coatings and other materials.

These make conventional mechanical recycling difficult or impossible.

Polyolefins are used in different shapes and colours, which makes sorting and separating materials difficult.

Black plastics are particularly problematic as they often cannot be sorted efficiently.

This means that they cannot be recycled to a high standard through mechanical recycling or can only be used for energy recovery and are lost to the cycle.

Polyolefin
Close the loop

What recycling solutions do we offer for Polyolefin?

The chemical recycling of plastics can close the loop, even for complex packaging.

Through a thermochemical process, it transforms plastics into their basic chemical building blocks. These are reusable and are suitable for the renewed production of plastics.

Due to the further decomposition of the plastics, it is possible, among other things, to produce packaging that is 100 percent food safe. This even applies to mixed plastics and contaminated input materials.

In an innovative recycling project, Landbell and two partner companies succeeded in closing the loop for plastic food packaging as early as 2022.

Read more here.