MANNOK JOINS NEXTLOOPP TO DEVELOP PIONEERING RECYCLING TECHNOLOGY

Mannok joins industry leaders to close recycled polypropylene loop   

Mannok’s food packaging manufacturing business joins NEXTLOOPP’s mission – along with industry leaders – to pioneer food-grade recycled polypropylene (rPP) packaging from post-consumer packaging, which is 100 per cent recyclable, 100 per cent recycled and closes the rPP loop.    

In Europe, polypropylene (PP) accounts for 10 million tonnes per year and 40 per cent is used for consumer packaging. Approximately 70 per cent of this consumer packaging is for food packaging, which typically gets recycled into non-food applications due to contamination as currently there is no viable solution for the development of food-grade rPP material via mechanical recycling.   

The production of just 1 tonne of recycled PP saves approximately 1.7 tonne of CO2 emissions. If the UK meets the 30% recycled content target for food contact PP packaging alone, it will create annual savings of 63,000 tonnes of virgin PP and 107,000 tonnes in CO2 emissions, which equates to planting more than 1 million trees.  

Mannok will join several industry leaders on this mission such as Danone, Unilever and OPRL, among many more.  

The objectives of the NEXTLOOPP project are the demonstration of innovative sorting technology, preparation of protocols for the European Food Safety Authority and United States Food and Drug Administration, implementation of sorting requirements for packaging in the recycling stream and mechanical reprocessing facilities for food-grade rPP as raw material in packaging. The demonstration plant will be available by the end of 2022.  

This innovative project is an additional step to assist Mannok on its journey to achieve a circular economy. Throughout its sustainability journey, Mannok has developed a range of new and more eco-friendly products which have received international recognition for their contribution to providing more sustainable packaging solutions, including the award winning Detecta® by Mannok, Signum® by Mannok and Orbital™ by Mannok.  

Professor Edward Kosior, founder and CEO of Nextek Ltd and NEXTLOOPP says:  

“The NEXTLOOPP project is delighted to welcome the participation of Mannok in helping close the loop on PP food packaging. Mannok is committed to creating a circular economy  with its packaging and the NEXTLOOPP project will help them to overcome the significant challenge of using high-quality recycled polypropylene in food-contact applications.” 

“We look forward to achieving the goal of creating a long-term solution for PP packaging so that consumers can be confident that when they participate in recycling, they are contributing to a better outcome for everyone not only in saving the resources of the planet and reducing the volume of municipal waste but also significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions.” 

Mark McKenna, General Manager at Mannok’s packaging business comments on this new membership:   

“At Mannok, one of our main innovation priorities is to reduce the environmental impact of our products and to achieve a true circular economy in our manufacturing, which we have made significant advances in. Joining NEXTLOOPP is a natural step for us to progress our circular economy targets.”  

“We look forward to supporting NEXTLOOPP with the development of this technology to create food-grade rPP. We are also excited to achieve the end goal and further back our company’s aims to reduce waste and develop more cost-effective recycled/recyclable packaging so our customers can save on the end product, with no compromise on quality or performance.” 

For more information on NEXTLOOPP click HERE.  

For more information on Mannok’s Eco Innovation click HERE.