CLIPP+ project aims to produce and commercialize new high quality environmentally friendly recycled PE films by means of an innovative extrusion CLIPP Recycling Technology (CRT) based on the use of supercritical carbon dioxide (sc-CO2) as a cleaning agent, promoting the reuse of post-industrial waste from printed films in non-food packaging applications.
Every year at EU level around 200 kt of waste printed PE films are generated by converting industry (around 10% of the production). Mechanical recycling of this waste is challenging due to the presence of inks, which make these recycled materials only suitable for manufacturing low value products (rubbish bags, irrigation pipes and pots), when not diverted to energy recovery and landfill, which has a negative environmental and societal impact. CLIPP + aims to introduce into the market cost-competitive environmentally friendly recycled polyolefin films to be reused in non-food film packaging through an innovative technology based on the use of sc-CO2 technology to remove the contaminants and unpleasant smell associated to this type of printed recycled plastic packaging films.
Packaging industry is under increasing legislative pressure such as Directive 2004/12/EC on packaging and packaging waste, which sets targets for recycling of packaging to recover plastic waste for mechanical recycling avoiding landfill. CLIPP+ project is fully aligned wth this approach
The development of CLIPP+ project has provided SKYMARY a very valuable approach to put the company in the fast track to embrace the challenges of EU Strategy for Plastics in the Circular Economy, putting SKYMARK ahead of even larger competitors.
The objective of CLIPP+ project is to obtain a recycled PE compound for manufacturing high-quality odour-free films with the same properties of films obtained from virgin resins.
The proposed technology CRT has been implemented at industrial level for treating post-industrial waste print PE film generated in the same plant. The analysis indicated that, when injecting the CO2 in supercritical conditions, a significant reduction of VOC is obtained in comparison to the conventional treatment process, which only uses the vacuum degasification phase. Furthermore, this reduction level is proportional to the percentage of gas injected, thus achieving a reduction of VOC values by less than a half with 4.5 % of CO2 gas.
Results from laboratory essays and tests comparing film properties have shown that coextruded films from recycled thermoplastic compounds show similar physical and mechanical properties to those obtained from PE virgin resin grades. In addition, films obtained from recycled thermoplastic compounds do not show disturbing odours so that a more pleasant working environment is achieved.
A final economic analysis has been carried out covering equipment costs, operating costs (personnel, raw materials and energy), consumables and capital costs. Calculated processing costs for CRT treatment are 246 Euro per tonne.
