Extrusion International USA 4-2020

27 Extrusion International 4/2020 New Study Reveals Collection, Design for Recycling and Uptake of Recyclates as the Main Drivers Flexible plastic packaging has the highest potential of contributing towards the achievement of the EU recycling targets for plastics, with a prospect of more than tripling in size during the next decade. To make that happen, however, now is the high time to address the challenges that must be overcome. The study done by Eunomia[1] demonstrates that every year, a total of 15 Mt of flexible films are put on the EU market of which 9 Mt are polyethylene (PE). With a 23% recycling rate for PE films in Europe there is much room for improvement. Specifically, advantage shall be taken of the household stream which accounts today for roughly 40% of all poly- ethylene film waste generated in the EU. Major investments in recycling capacity and technology are needed to advance recycling of this stream. Increased sepa- rate collection, advancing quality of sorted waste and recy- clability must be worked on in parallel. Multilayers, for ex- ample, are just one of design for recycling issues that impact the process and quality of recyclates. End-markets are just as important. “The high-end applica- tions for rPE remain largely underexploited, commented Ton Plastics Recyclers Europe plasticsrecyclers.eu Emans, PRE President, he added: Today roughly 13% of PE flexible packaging is used in film to film applications and therefore, is in practice circular.” This trend is further con- firmed in the study which demonstrates that there is a po- tential to substantially increase the use of recycled content within most of the major film market sectors. Polypropylene (PP) flexible packaging with a market of around 2.5 Mt, was identified in the study as the recycling stream that is equally underrepresented. The report points out that today PP flexible films are often not sorted in a separate waste stream, and thus viable sorting and recycling routes need to be developed. With the growing consumption and therefore demand for flexible packaging in Europe, policy makers and the industry must continue to work hand in hand on advancing its circu- larity. [1] Flexible Films Market in Europe State of Play. Production, Collection and Recycling Data. Eunomia 2020 BASF SE, Bereich Performance Materials www.ultramid-advanced-n.basf.com long-chain high-performance material shows a dimensional stability that belongs to the highest of all polyamides. This property profile makes Ultramid ® Advanced N the per- fect material for extruding pre-fabricated components and small assemblies but also for many applications in the auto- motive industry, in mechanical engineering and in kitchen appliances. During machining, the behavior of the semi-fin- ished products lies between a polyamide and a polyoxymeth- ylene copolymer, with steady and consistent chip formation and removal. “GEHR is the first company to success- fully use a PPA for ex- trusion. With its ex- pertise in extrusion, GEHR has developed stock shapes that can be produced without any voids”, says Philipp Wenz, group head in sales of BASF’s Perfor- mance Materials di- vision. “We can’t say for certain whether it’s the world’s first semi-finished part made from polyphthalamide. The high- performance material has definitely not yet played an im- portant role in the market for semi-finished parts. One rea- son for this might be that usual polyphthalamides cannot be extruded very well.” Thus Ultramid ® Advanced N5H closes a gap in the market between semi-finished parts made of polyetheretherketones and polyarylsulfones on the one hand and semi-finished products made from engineering plastics on the other hand. In comparison to the latter it can be used at continuous operating temperatures well above 120 °C. The BASF material is also suitable for profiles other than rods. Bernhard Grosskinsky, Head of Application Technology at GEHR, explains: “BASF’s polyphthalamide is far easier to process compared to other PPAs on the market. It gives us a wide processing window with at the same time a high melt stability. The quality of the material always remains the same so that we can maintain a stable production of our semi-fin- ished parts. Last but not least, another advantage of BASF’s PPA: It is easy to produce finished components from the semi-finished products by post-processing.”