First Henkel bottles made from chemically recycled plastic

Henkel has produced bottles using chemically recycled plastic for the first time, in collaboration with packaging manufacturer Alpla.

Through chemical recycling, mixed plastic waste that was previously impossible to recycle can be effectively reprocessed and reused.

The pilot project with bottles of Perwoll is part of the ChemCycling project led by BASF.

Dr Thorsten Leopold, Head of International Packaging Development Home Care at Henkel, said: “We see huge potential for chemical recycling to complement conventional mechanical recycling.”

“Mechanical recycling is limited by the fact that not all plastic waste can be reprocessed into useable material. Thanks to chemical recycling, fossil resources can be replaced with recycled material made from plastic waste.”

“This project is an important additional step towards creating a circular economy for plastic, and on this basis we are evaluating further opportunities for integrating chemically recycled plastic in our product packaging.”

Anja Winkler, BASF Head of Global Key Account Management, said: “The pilot project with Henkel’s Perwoll bottle has shown that products made using chemically recycled raw materials boast the same high quality and performance as products made of fossil materials.”

“With ChemCycling, the proportion of recycled material that goes into the production process is assigned to the end product by the Mass Balance method. This can help our customers achieve their sustainability goals.”