Packaging materials used to protect and preserve foods and other products are a challenge for the chain of recycling due to the combined use of different materials. In the new Program on Circular Packaging, Brightlands Materials Center utilises extensive polymer materials and processing knowledge generated in its other research programs. The first project within the new research program aims to design new packaging films that are less complex and to enable the ‘harvesting’ of polymers from the packaging during mechanical and dissolution recycling methods. The newly recycled materials – in this case, polyolefins – can then be reused as raw materials in new, high-quality plastic products.
The launch of the new Program on Circular Packaging marks Brightlands Materials Center’s fifth anniversary. The center is a joint initiative of TNO, the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research, and the Province of Limburg.
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