CIRCULAR FoodPack – Circular packaging for direct food contact applications

Dear {profile_1} ,

Our first conference "Circularity for Food Packaging" in Freising (Germany) on 23 November was a big succes!
Please find out more in this edition of our CIRCULAR FoodPack newsletter! Topics also include the achievement of a milestone, our activities within the Circular Plastics Cluster, and much more! 

And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn!

Conference "Circularity for Food Packaging" 

At our one-day conference “Circularity for Food Packaging" on 23 November 2023 at Fraunhofer IVV’s premises in Freising, Germany, stakeholders from the recycling industry, waste managers, food brand owners/producers, policymakers, and scientists met to exchange on the latest developments in the field of circular packaging. 85 participants from 14 countries received brand new information from 13 high profile speakers  on how plastic packaging can be recycled in a circular manner and  used for food contact applications. At the get-together and the final poster exhibition of the Circular Plastics Cluster, several selected EU projects presented their approaches to a circular plastics economy. 

We were overwhelmed by the number of participants, the quality of the discussions and the positive feedback we received! A huge thank you to our speakers Wolfgang Trunk (EU Commission), Peter Sandkühler (DOW), Virginie Decottignies (SUEZ), Jochen Moesslein (Polysecure), Martin Schlummer (Fraunhofer IVV), Steven De Meester (Ghent University), Marcus Vogt (Kreyenborg), Ralf Leineweber (SIEGWERK), Diana Kemmer (Fraunhofer IVV), Nicolas Mys (AMCOR), Sophie Huysveld (Ghent University), Keti Medarova-Bergstrom (REA) and to all the other partners involved! This event would not have been possible without your valuable contributions and support! 

Read the most important key takeaways here.

The speakers and moderators of the "Circularity for Food Packaging" Conference in Freising  ©BayFOR

5th General Assembly Meeting at Fraunhofer IVV

On 22 November 2023, the CIRCULAR FoodPack project partners came together for the 5th General Assembly meeting. This time, we were invited by the coordinating organisation Faunhofer Institute for Packaging and Process Engineering (IVV) in Freising. 

It was a productive meeting with our EU Project Officer Keti Medarova-Bergstrom as a guest. It was an excellent opportunity for her to obtain insights in the current project activities. In addition, the consortium was very delighted to have her as she gave many helpful information concerning the further project implementation. One other highlight of this meeting was the tour given by the colleagues from the Fraunhofer IVV. The consortium had the opportunity to see their analytical laboratories, the pilot plants for packaging material production and the pilot plant for solvent-based recycling (CreaSolv®). 

The CIRCULAR FoodPack consortium is continuing its work on making flexible food packaging circular for another 12 months.

The CIRCULAR FoodPack consortium at the premises of Fraunhofer IVV  ©Fraunhofer IVV

Milestone achieved - Successful production of high quality, recycable packaging laminates with PCR PE for flexible food packaging 

Our project partner AMCOR has successfully integrated 50% post-consumer polyethylene recyclates (PCR PE) from the CIRCULAR FoodPack project into a triplex laminate film on an industrial scale for the first time.

The laminate fulfils the technical requirements for contact sensitive packaging by incorporating functional barriers, which were validated through migration testing. The film contains a total of 50% PCR, with 70% PCR in a main layer, and is Design-4-Recycling compliant. 

Find out more.

Triplex laminate film with 50% PCR PE from CIRCULAR FoodPack produced on an industrial scale ©Nelly Freitag

CIRCULAR FoodPack at ECOMONDO 2023

From 7 to 10 November, CIRCULAR FoodPack was represented at this year’s ECOMONDO – The Green Technology Expo in Rimini, Italy. Together with the other EU-funded projects CIMPA, BUDDIE-PACK, Sol-REC 2 and REMADYL, the Circular Plastics Cluster shared a booth in order to give our projects more visibility and to exchange with other scientific and industrial stakeholders.

Furthermore, CIMPA and Sol-REC 2 represented the Cluster at the stand of the European Commission to show how European projects can contribute to a circular economy.      

Another highlight of the ECOMONDO was the final event of our cluster partner REMADYL, where our Circular Plastics Cluster was presented from Pascal Negré (Sol-REC 2). 

This cluster activity was another successful collaboration in which CIRCULAR FoodPack teamed up with our partner projects for a stronger circular economy of plastics.

The Circular Plastics Cluster at the EU stand at ECOMONDO ©Pascal Negré

New scientific publications

Two further scientific articles were recently published in the context of the CIRCULAR FoodPack project. 

“High Quantum Yield Shortwave Infrared Luminescent Tracers for Improved Sorting of Plastic Waste” by Rajagopalan, K., et al. (2023) appeared in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces on 7 September 2023. Congrats to our project members Dr. Andrey Turshatov and Prof. Dr. Bryce S. Richards from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) who were involved in this achievement! 

The payable article can also be downloaded here.

Graphical abstract of “High Quantum Yield Shortwave Infrared Luminescent Tracers for Improved Sorting of Plastic Waste”

And “Operational Framework to Quantify “Quality of Recycling” across Different Material Types” by Roosen, M., et. al. (2023), appeared in Environmental Science & Technology on 28 August 2023. Congrats to our project members Martijn Roosen from Ghent University, Kim Ragaert (Maastricht University) and Steven De Meester (Ghent University & Maastricht University)! 

Read the full article here. 

Graphical abstract of "Operational Framework to Quantify “Quality of Recycling” across Different Material Types”

We wish you a Merry Christmas, relaxing holidays, and a great start in 2024!

Kind regards,
Your CIRCULAR FoodPack Dissemination & Communication Team