You are a finalist for the Sustainability Awards 2022. Congratulations. First of all, could you summarize your entry? In less than 50 words?
NOVA Chemicals’ polyethylene (PE) mono-material solutions replace EVOH-based coex barrier films, provide cleaner products for end-of-life PE recycling, and help drive the plastic circular economy. This innovative solution provides converters with design flexibility when creating recycled packaging.
Why do you think the judges were impressed with your entry? Tell us about the innovation of your project and the sustainability impact of your packaging.
NOVA Chemicals’ recyclable PE oxygen barrier packaging innovation meets all transformation, packaging, and end-use performance requirements of traditional oxygen barrier packaging (EVOH-based films), is single-material, cost-effective It has the added advantage of not requiring any compatibilizers. Considered a recyclable material. Utilizing a single material with at least one-tenth the thickness of the coating material compared to traditional EvoH oxygen barrier layers, allowing for a cleaner reinforced PE (rPE) recycle stream without compromising performance will be Additionally, NOVA Chemicals’ tests have demonstrated that oriented PE films are an excellent off-the-shelf substrate for nanoclay coatings. The combination of oriented PE film and nano-clay coating results in an oxygen barrier film that can be conventionally printed and laminated to a PE sealant web, offering high transparency, vivid printing and usability comparable to conventional PET/PE-EVOH. A package with ease. -PE laminate. This innovation will enable more products to be diverted to flexible packaging collection systems for recycling into higher quality rPE resins, promoting a circular economy for plastics.
When and how do you plan to launch/commercialize this innovation?
NOVA Chemicals has a history of strong value chain collaborations and has leveraged these relationships to bring to market an EVOH-free oxygen barrier package. We will continue to cooperate and support film manufacturers to increase the supply of oriented PE films. We anticipate a significant increase in the supply of BOPE-HD film in the near future due to the large production capacity of our biaxial tenter frame film line.
You are shortlisted for ‘recyclable packaging’ category. What do you see as the main demands, challenges and opportunities for recyclable packaging?
Achieving a circular economy for plastics is a top priority (and biggest challenge) as it relates to recyclable packaging. For example, the design, development and commercialization of recyclable plastic packaging has been a major industry concern over the past decade and has seen significant innovation and advancement. However, the pace of innovation and investment in recycling processes and infrastructure is not the same. Today, flexible packaging recovery remains surprisingly low at 1% in North America. In the European Union, the current recycling rate for PE film is 23%, with potential for increased collection and recycling. Increased access to collection systems transforms the flexible packaging life cycle from a linear model to a desirable circular loop.
