Unilever develops sachet recycling method

Across the world, billions of sachets are thrown away after a single use. The complex multi-layered materials are not reusable where local recycling facilities are very basic, and through watercourses the sachets are washed into the seas, to increase the load of marine pollution.

Unilever, one of the world’s largest makers of consumer liquids, is responsible for the rise of sachet packaging in countries such as Indonesia and India, where millions of shoppers rely on micro-packages to meet their daily needs. However, with ineffective waste management unable to prevent pollution, innovation was needed to mitigate the proliferation of used sachets.

CreaSolv Process technology was adapted from a method used to separate brominated flame retardants from waste electrical and electronic equipment polymers. During the process, the plastic is recovered from the sachet, and the plastic then used to create new sachets for Unilever’s products.

David Blanchard, Chief Research Officer said: “Billions of sachets are used once and just thrown away, all over the world, ending up in landfill or in our waterways and oceans. At the start of this year we made a commitment to help solve this problem, developing new recycling technologies. We intend to make this tech open source and would hope to scale the technology with industry partners, so others – including our competitors – can use it.

“There is a clear economic case for delivering this. We know that globally $80-120bn is lost to the economy through failing to properly recycle plastics each year. Finding a solution represents a huge opportunity. We believe that our commitment to making 100 per cent of our packaging recyclable, reusable or compostable will support the long-term growth of our business.”

Unilever will open a pilot plant in Indonesia later this year to test the long-term commercial viability of the technology. Indonesia, is a critical country in which to tackle waste, producing 64m tonnes every year, with 1.3m tonnes ending up in the ocean.

This announcement is part of Unilever’s pledge to ensure all its plastic packaging is fully reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025.

Andreas Mäurer, Head of Plastic Recycling at the Fraunhofer institute, said: “With this innovative pilot plant we can, for the first time ever, recycle high-value polymers from dirty, post-consumer, multi-layer sachets. Our aim is to prove the economic profitability and environmental benefits of the CreaSolv Process. Our calculations indicate that we are able to recover six kilos of pure polymers with the same energy effort as the production of one kilo of virgin polymer.”