According to a case study led by German films producer Klöckner Pentaplast (kp, Montabaur; www.kpfilms.com), rPET flakes from waste food trays can be extruded into new PET rigid film. This can then be thermoformed back into pots, tubs or trays, closing the loop for tray-to-tray recycling.

During the pilot, 20 t of post-consumer rPET were recycled back into food trays made by kp in Spain. The company said the project has started to show “clear evidence” that post-consumer PET packaging can be recycled back into more food packaging without the addition of clear PET bottle flakes.

The study, which kp said is the first of its kind in Europe, was done as part of a working group with industry association Petcore Europe (Brussels / Belgium; https://petcore-europe.org). Sorting was handled by Valorplast (Puteaux / France; www.valorplast.com) and recycling by Wellman International (Mullagh / Ireland; www.wellman-intl.com). The films manufacturer said the project has created a new stream of valuable recycled material for the food packaging industry, adding that learnings from the pilot are also providing evidence on how to improve flake quality, reduce the presence of multilayers and assure food safety.

Separately, kp appointed a new CEO in March 2019 – namely Scott Tracey, formerly president of the health, hygiene and speciality division at packaging group Berry Global (Evansville, Indiana / USA; www.berryglobal.com). “We are confident Scott’s leadership will allow us to drive towards our growth and profitability objectives,” said kp’s chairman Matt Epse.