Recyclability

A major grade of Nichigo G-Polymer™ BVE8049P has been certified as a recyclable material by Institute cyclos-HTP GmbH (cyclos-HTP), an institution for the evaluation and optimization of packaging with regard to its recyclability.

The evaluation of cyclos-HTP showed that polyethylene-based multilayer packaging materials can be recycled if the content of Nichigo G-Polymer™ BVE8049P is 5wt% or less.

In the general view, PVOH was also classified as an unsuitable material for recycling in multilayer polyethylene packaging materials. The certification demonstrates that Nichigo G-Polymer™, also known as BVOH, is a barrier material with excellent recyclability properties, unlike conventional PVOH, and confirms that it is a material that contributes to the reduction of food loss and recycling and hence contributes to promotes resource savings over the whole life cycle of a packaging.

Use of Nichigo G-Polymer™ as an intermediate gas-barrier layer in multi-layer packaging material enables packaging designs for material recycling that leverage the material’s water solubility.
When multi-layer packaging material with Nichigo G-Polymer™ in the intermediate layer is crushed and washed with water, Nichigo G-Polymer™ dissolves, enabling separation of the packaging layers. Verification testing by Mitsubishi Chemical succeeded in obtaining recycled pellets with a purity of over 95% by extruding the separated and dried film into pellets.

Multi-layer packaging materials that combine different materials, such as nylon and aluminum foil, are widely used to add functionality, but the challenge with these packaging materials is that they are difficult to recycle. Even in such multi-layer packaging, Nichigo G-Polymer™ can be placed in the intermediate layer, and after crushing and washing with water, each layer can be separated. In addition, different resins can be separated by utilizing the differences in their density.

Verification by Mitsubishi Chemical has proved that polyethylene (PE) and nylon (Ny) can be recovered from multi-layer packaging at high purity by using Nichigo G-Polymer™ in the intermediate layer.

The recycling of multilayer packaging materials cannot be achieved without the cooperation of brand owners and recycling companies.
If you are interested in recycling multilayer packaging materials using Nichigo G-Polymer™, please feel free to contact us.

We have produced a video summarising the recyclability of Nichigo G-Polymer^TM.
Please take a look at this as well.