Coperion has obtained a letter of no objection (LNO) from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its recycling process for high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and polypropylene (PP).
The FDA letter states that the use of Coperion twin-screw extruders, together with EcoFresh silo degassing in the production of recycled HDPE (rHDPE) and recycled PP (rPP), meets requirements for materials intended for direct food contact.
The decision may support wider recycling routes for food packaging.
Regranulate suitable for food contact can be made from HDPE milk jugs and fruit juice bottles and used again in similar bottles or related products.
PP containers, cups, bowls and trays can also be processed into new food-contact packaging.
For recycled HDPE intended for food-contact use, the input material consists of used HDPE beverage bottles or bottle caps.
For recycled PP compounds, the feedstock includes vegetable trays, other packaging and yoghurt containers.
The material enters the extruder through Coperion K-Tron gravimetric feeders, where it is melted, mixed, homogenised and degassed with twin screws.
The process settings and screw configuration were arranged to suit the needs of each recycling application.
After that, solid contaminants are removed through a melt filter, and the material is pelletised.
The recompounds then undergo a second decontamination stage in the EcoFresh silo degassing unit.
Coperion said recyclers can evaluate the decontamination performance of the extruder and EcoFresh at the Coperion Recycling Innovation Center, where both technologies are available for trials using original material streams.
Alongside Herbold Meckesheim’s Test Center, where grinding and cleaning of raw materials take place, the company said the full recycling process can be replicated in its test centres.
Coperion recycling global commercial director Stefan Lachenmayer said: “The FDA's LNO means that rHDPE and rPP manufactured with our technologies can be used for new food packaging in proportions up to 100%.
“As a result, we provide recyclers with the assurance that our energy-efficient mechanical recycling process manufactures high-quality recyclate for use cases A-H. These include, for example, packaging for high-temperature, heat-sterilised, pasteurised or frozen products.”
