Interface Polymers and Flexipol win UKRI Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging grant

Interface Polymers and Flexipol have jointly won funding through a competition run by UKRI’s Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging challenge. 

The £850,000 grant is to finance the 24-month collaborative project, titled  ‘Recycle Ready’ multi-layer barrier plastic packaging films, to provide fully recyclable LDPE multi-layer packaging, suitable for upcycling into high value applications. 

This project brings together Interface Polymers’ internationally patented and proven surface functionality Polarfin additive technology that overcomes inherent molecular level non-compatibility between polyolefins to enable them to be recycled, and Flexipol’s film technology expertise and flexible packaging manufacturing capabilities. 

The project team is also looking to provide multi-layer barrier packaging options with a minimum of 30 per cent recycled material that will not incur the £200 per tonne plastic packaging tax being introduced in the UK from April 2022.

In addition to legislative pressure, the project is looking to address a major packaging industry dilemma due to growing socioeconomic pressure for more sustainable product alternatives, such as mono-layer plastic packaging; while recyclable (ASTM D7611 RIC “4” & “5” classified), mono-layer flexible packaging cannot deliver the same level of functionality performance and product benefits provided by multi-layer barrier plastic packaging. The new Recycle Ready range will enable packaging manufacturers to offer retailers and consumers technically superior multi-layer barrier packaging products that will meet RIC “4” and “5” classifications, so will be 100 per cent recyclable. 

The project’s key aim is to offer the packaging industry fully scalable alternative LDPE multi-layer barrier films for the commercial production of food approved multi-layer flexible packaging that can be repeatedly recycled using existing pure plastic waste streams sorting and separation processing plants.   

Dr Tim Clayfield, Application Development Leader for Interface Polymers, said: “We are confident that together with Flexipol’s packaging expertise and processing capabilities, the project team can develop a range of RIC “4” labelled, fully recyclable food approved multi-layer barrier flexible plastic packaging products with no anisotropy issues, which can be reprocessed multiple times into high value recycled product applications.”  

The Recycle Ready project is initially targeting multi-layer polyethylene and polyamide food packaging vacuum bags and thermoplastic films, a submarket sector worth £95m per annum, with the overall UK multi-layer barrier plastic packaging market annually estimated to be in excess of £750m. 

In addition to the film qualification and production scale-up of the Ready Recycle multi-layer packaging products, Flexipol will be working with established bulk food processors to ensure that the entire value chain is included in the project. The longer-term objective is to leverage solutions coming out of this project into other multi-layer barrier film packaging sectors using alternative polymers, such as polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH) and polyamide (PA).