Collaboration announced to demonstrate a commercial-scale solution to address hard-to-recycle flexible plastic derived from household waste.
The ValueFlex model, based on a concept developed by CEFLEX, integrates state-of-the-art sorting with high-quality processing in a modular and flexible approach to maximise value from flexible plastic packaging waste, The Alliance to End Plastic Waste (Alliance) says.
The project is a collaboration between the Circular Economy for Flexible Packaging (CEFLEX) and the Alliance, with support from consultants Roland Berger and HTP Engineering.
The solution will be a blueprint for a new generation of infrastructure and investment to significantly boost the transition to a circular economy, providing high-quality recycled materials from household waste for use in a range of circular products in high demand, the Alliance says.
Flexible plastic packaging is one of the more challenging types of material to process and recycle.
The Alliance continues that after “proving the ValueFlex concept” for recycling post-consumer flexible plastic waste through “extensive” semi-industrial trials, the project is now moving to the next phase of development—to demonstrate the solution at a commercial scale.
To achieve this, the Alliance says it is working with CEFLEX and inviting expressions of interest (EOI) to partner in developing a first-generation ValueFlex facility, with a 50,000-tonne annual processing capacity. The plant will be based in Europe and aims to be operational by 2025.
According to the pre-feasibility study conducted by Roland Berger, the solution will be a key enabler to meeting market demand for high-quality post-consumer recyclates from mechanical recycling and to provide fit-for-purpose feedstocks for chemical recycling, the Alliance says.
Vice President of Projects for the Alliance, Nicholas Kolesch, said: “Flexible plastic packaging is one of the more challenging types of material to process and recycle, and there are urgent calls to accelerate solutions in this space.
“The ValueFlex concept has tremendous potential to support a circular economy for plastic waste by enabling the recycling of household flexible packaging waste at scale and fulfilling the burgeoning demand for high-quality post-consumer recyclate.”
Through its support for the ValueFlex concept, the Alliance says it is demonstrating its commitment to developing and de-risking solutions to acute challenges that can then be scaled by industry and deployed across the world.