A new packaging material containing recycled content has been developed for plastic bottles.
The Artenius Elite chemical process from manufacturer LSB’s Artenius division, replaces conventional non-renewable petrochemical raw materials with recycled materials.
It has been developed specifically for beverage packaging and depending on the base resin used, is suitable for processing as stretch blow moulding in one- and two-stage processes.
Produced under a proprietary chemical recycling process, the clean recycled PET is de-polymerised and mixed together with standard virgin PET raw materials, integrating both types of compounds into the re-polymerisation process.
Due to the process leading to material that is almost 100 per cent pure, the material can be used for food-grade applications, according to LSB. In fact, the European Food Safety Agency has ruled that Artenius Elite should not be treated differently to monomers manufactured by chemical synthesis.
Artenius technology manager Jordi Foguet said: “We have successfully created a PET packaging material that included recycled resin in its manufacturing process, but with the same quality as virgin PET. The product development was a rigorous joint effort between R&D, our pilot plant, production sites and our in-house suppliers of recycled PET flakes. We are excited to being this environmentally-friendly new product line to the market.”
The product will initially be produced at Artenius’ factory in Italy, but will then also be manufactured in Spain.
