CIRCULAR FoodPack aims to facilitate the circular use of plastic packaging addressing the most sensitive product category: Food packaging. This sector contains 87% of all European flexible plastic-plastic multilayer composites (MLC) due to the high requirements for food preservation and safety. However, these MLC laminates cannot be recycled by state of the art processes and thus counteract the circular use of food packaging. Recycled polymers from far less demanding mono-film waste fractions underperform and cannot be used in food packaging, mostly due to the presence of intentionally and not intentionally added substances. We will demonstrate the project results by production of high-quality recycled PE at TRL 5-6, using Sensor-Based-Specification or Tracer-Based-Sorting (TBS, SBS), deinking and thermally assisted deodorization as well as solvent-based or mechanical recycling processes. Innovative designs of recyclable and food-safe mono-material laminates will enable the re-use in high-value film applications, with upcoming food packaging marking with deinkable tracers. This allows a future circular economy of food packaging, if TBS guarantees a sorting of food grade materials. Product characterization, food contact compliance testing, LCA, LCC and business modelling will support and guide process development, upscale and design new packaging. The approach addresses the scope of the call exactly, since innovative sorting and recycling solutions are applied to novel designs being developed. That enables the re-use in the same high-value product sector by removing undesirable substances from secondary raw materials. Addressing the annual 2 Mio tonnes of European MLC food packaging, which currently hamper the recycling of 17.8 Mio tonnes of food packaging waste, the expected impact on flexible packaging and food sector is substantial. An interdisciplinary team of 4 RTOs and 10 industrial partners (5 SMEs) will finally implement the new circular economy approach.

SYSCHEMIQ will demonstrate how to migrate to a circular urban-industrial cross-border district, i.e. the CHEMELOT Circular Hub (CCH) in the Trilateral Euregio of NL, BE and DE. A Circular Economy Action Plan and a (4BEUR) Investment Agenda (2020-2030) are available. Stakeholder involvement schemes are in place, to allow governance within an ecosystem (Regional Government, Municipality, Industries, Educational and Research Institutes, Utilities and Cluster Management): a new way of working to overcome key-bottlenecks. Investment decisions have been made to set up mechanical recycling (4kT/a) and a 150 M€ semi-industrial (18kT/a) chemical pilot recycling plant, to run demos with optimised real-life Mixed Plastic Waste (MPW) streams. We will demo systemic solutions 1) a novel Dual-Track multistakeholder governance model, underpinned by the recently developed Plastic Recycling Impact Scenario: PRISM model (TRL6), and CIMS digital-twin 2) the CCH circular governance model (TRL6), 3) community-based innovation schemes; a Circular City Lab, citizens incentives schemes, incubator and novel skills development and innovation programmes with students (vocational, professional and academic) in a Circular Learning Lab (CHILL), 4) new plastic waste collection, sorting standards/protocols and technologies (e.g. prototype sorting line TRL6) for alignment of material flows in the value chain, 5) new Design rules (TRL 5) for plastic packaging products favouring mechanical and chemical recycling. Considering circa 1.1 Mt of MPW in NL and 30 Mt in EU, scenario calculations promise huge savings of 11.4 Mt CO2 eq./a and 190 kT/a virgin polyolefins. Business modelling and upscaling study will prepare investments in a 100-400 kT/a full-scale recycling facility. A structured Twinning programme with at least 5 selected regions (incl. Flanders and Lombardy), will foster replication, with the support of EU Platform organisations (ECRN, PRE) and in collaboration with the CCRI.