Recycled Content to Support a Circular Economy for Packaging

For Flexible Packaging in Europe

As brands across industries work to reduce their environmental impact and support the circular economy, minimizing the use of virgin resources in packaging is a priority.

Circular economy for packaging

• Brand uses packaging to protect their product

• Consumer uses product and disposes of packaging

• Packaging waste is collected and sorted and either mechanically or chemically recycled, or incinerated

• Packaging supplier produces packaging, using mechanically or chemically recycled content

Both mechanical and chemical recycling are important to the circular economy, but the way materials are processed, tracked and certified differ between the two.

Mechanical recycling

Ideal for mono-PE or mono-PP materials.

• Material is sorted, shredded, washed and repelletizied. There is no change to the polymeric structure of the material. ​

• Does not produce food-grade/healthcare-grade packaging materials (according to European food contact standards). Potential traces of contaminants can be still present, depending on the mechanical recycling technology.

• Suitable for use in non-contact sensitive packaging (e.g. home care packaging, outer wrapping)

• Uses less energy than chemical recycling, making it an important part of the circular economy

Chemical recycling

Ideal for mixed polyolefin, or more challenging mono-PE, mono-PP structures (e.g. some laminated or printed materials). Not suitable for most multi-materials (e.g., PET/Alu/PE, PET/PE).

• Breaks down plastic materials into their original building blocks through thermal or catalytic processes (e.g. pyrolysis)

• Produces chemically recycled content — known as advanced recycled materials due to its more advanced recycling processes — which can be used for food and healthcare packaging

• Currently provides the only option to achieve upcoming recycling content targets for contact-sensitive applications, as per the draft Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR)

Tracking and certifying chemical recycled materials with mass balance

A mass balance approach is a chain of custody model to track materials through a complex value chain. It’s already used today for a variety of industries and materials, including:

• Fairtrade supply chains such as for cocoa and tea

• FSC and PEFC timber and paper

In packaging, mass balance helps certify recycled quantities based on recycled content used in the chemical recycling chain, even if it cannot be physically traced in products.

Mass balance in chemical recycling

• Step 1: Plastic packaging waste is broken down under extremely high temperatures. This process, called pyrolysis, is different than incineration. The plastic does not burn, instead it undergoes a chemical transformation where long chain molecules break into smaller molecules. The output is called pyrolysis oil.

  • Input 1: Orange = Pyrolysis oil from recycling of plastic packaging and waste

  • Input 2: Blue = Virgin raw materials (naphtha oil)

• Step 2: During the plastic production process, the oil obtained by recycling packaging waste and the virgin raw material oil are blended, and can no longer be individually traced.

• Step 3: The result is resin pellets (small plastic beads). Each individual pellet will contain a different concentration of virgin and recycled inputs, which cannot be physically traced.

• Step 4: Amcor purchases these resin pellets to make packaging. Only a percentage of each batch can be certified as recycled content. That percentage is directly linked to the quantity of recycled pyrolysis oil input.

• Step 5: The certified recycled resin pellets are then used in new packaging. The certification (stating the % of certified resin) can be transferred to the brand owner to print on pack.

ISCC is the most common certification for recycled content.

AmFinitiTM - Your solutions for recycled content

Amcor offers packaging solutions with a percentage of recycled content for many applications.

• The Amcor AmPrima™ portfolio is highly compatible with recycled materials and is recyclable in several European countries. AmPrima can include chemically recycled content for food packaging or mechanically recycled content for non-contact sensitive applications.

• Amcor’s HealthCare™ recycle-ready solutions such as SureForm Forming Films are also available with advanced recycled material.

Would you like to add recycled content to your packaging? Enquire about Amcor solutions in Europe at Amcor.com