Technology and research hub Aimplas is working on a project to decontaminate recycled plastic to enable food contact.
The Valencia-based body said its Deconwaste initiative aimed to develop new methods for deep-cleaning polyolefins commonly used in packaging.
Working with these polymers presents “significant” technical challenges, Aimplas said.
“Their wide range of uses, the presence of multiple additives and their chemical behaviour make decontamination processes more complex and require specialised technologies,” explained lead researcher in mechanical recycling Adrián Morales.
“Additionally, the inability to easily distinguish between food and non-food packaging during recycling, or to trace the food-related origin of recycled packaging, complicates subsequent processing stages.
“For this reason, it is essential to research and develop new effective decontamination methods that address these challenges and ensure the safety of recycled materials for food contact use.”
The project is funded by the Valencian Institute for Competitiveness and Innovation.
Aimplas said it aimed to “allow companies to overcome one of the main bottlenecks in polyolefin recycling, enabling the use of materials previously discarded in the manufacture of new packaging or other products intended for direct food contact.”
