Design of recyclable PET trays for foods that require high gas barrier
(2022) MTTM10 20221Packaging Logistics
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Europa går över till en cirkulär ekonomi och har höga återvinningsmål. År 2030 ska alla förpackningar på marknaden vara återvinningsbara. Detta är en utmaning, särskilt för plastförpackningar för livsmedel, som vanligtvis består av olika plastmaterial. Kravet från återvinningsindustrin i Europa är att använda monomaterialförpackningar eftersom det är lättare att återvinna. Detta kan bli problematiskt för vissa typer av plastförpackningar för livsmedel som kräver en gasbarriär för att skydda livsmedlet, till exempel, vid Modified Atmosphere Packaging. Konsekvensen av att använda monomaterial är att förpackningen behöver bli tjockare för att behålla en barriär. Utmaningen för plastförpackningstillverkare är att designa material för... (More)
- Europa går över till en cirkulär ekonomi och har höga återvinningsmål. År 2030 ska alla förpackningar på marknaden vara återvinningsbara. Detta är en utmaning, särskilt för plastförpackningar för livsmedel, som vanligtvis består av olika plastmaterial. Kravet från återvinningsindustrin i Europa är att använda monomaterialförpackningar eftersom det är lättare att återvinna. Detta kan bli problematiskt för vissa typer av plastförpackningar för livsmedel som kräver en gasbarriär för att skydda livsmedlet, till exempel, vid Modified Atmosphere Packaging. Konsekvensen av att använda monomaterial är att förpackningen behöver bli tjockare för att behålla en barriär. Utmaningen för plastförpackningstillverkare är att designa material för återvinning när länder i Europa har olika återvinningssystem. Denna studie syftade till att undersöka om en låg andel EVOH i PET-material för tråg skulle kunna återvinnas i Sverige, Tyskland, Nederländerna, Frankrike, Storbritannien, Spanien och Italien. Vidare, om det fanns en annan barriärlösning som skulle kunna vara återvinningsbar i de nämnda länderna. Detta undersöktes genom att jämföra olika designrekommendationer för återvinning, litteraturgenomgång, marknadsanalys och experimentellt arbete. Designrekommendationerna reflekterade kraven från återvinningsindustrin eftersom inget kommersiellt tillgängligt barriärmaterial rekommenderades. Rekommendationen var att använda ett tjockare PET-material för att termoforma PET-tråg och därför beräknades CO2-utsläpp för olika scenarier. (Less)
- Abstract
- Europe is transitioning to a circular economy and have high recycling goals. By 2030 all packaging on the market should be recyclable. This is a challenge, especially for plastic packaging for food, which usually constitutes of different plastic materials. The demand from the recycling industry in Europe is to use mono material packaging as it is easier to recycle. This can become problematic for certain types of plastic packaging for food which require gas barrier materials to protect what it contains, e.g., Modified Atmosphere Packaging. The consequence of using mono materials is that the packaging needs to become thicker to obtain a barrier. The challenge for plastic packaging producers’ is to design materials for recycling when... (More)
- Europe is transitioning to a circular economy and have high recycling goals. By 2030 all packaging on the market should be recyclable. This is a challenge, especially for plastic packaging for food, which usually constitutes of different plastic materials. The demand from the recycling industry in Europe is to use mono material packaging as it is easier to recycle. This can become problematic for certain types of plastic packaging for food which require gas barrier materials to protect what it contains, e.g., Modified Atmosphere Packaging. The consequence of using mono materials is that the packaging needs to become thicker to obtain a barrier. The challenge for plastic packaging producers’ is to design materials for recycling when countries in Europe have different waste management systems. This study aimed to investigate if a low percentage of EVOH in PET-materials for thermoforming trays could be recyclable in Sweden, Germany, Netherlands, France, United Kingdom, Spain, and Italy. Further, if there was another barrier-solution which could be recyclable in the stated countries above. These subjects were investigated by comparing design for recycling guidelines, literature review and market analysis and through experimental work. The demand from the recycling industry was reflecting on the design for recycling guidelines as no commercially available barrier material was recommended. The recommendation was to use a thicker PET sheet to thermoform PET trays and therefore an environmental evaluation was performed for different scenarios. (Less)
- Popular Abstract
- Designing recyclable PET trays
Different materials are used for packaging foods and one of these materials is plastics. There
are different types of plastics which usually are combined to obtain an optimum packaging
with the required properties. Plastic food packaging’s primary function is to keep the food
safe and preserve the quality of the food. The challenge with plastic food packaging is to
design them for recycling. It is challenging for recyclers to recycle materials which contains
different types of plastics and therefore a general guideline is to only use one type of plastics.
One example is PET trays in food packages which have a lower recyclability as they can
contain more than one type of plastics with different... (More) - Designing recyclable PET trays
Different materials are used for packaging foods and one of these materials is plastics. There
are different types of plastics which usually are combined to obtain an optimum packaging
with the required properties. Plastic food packaging’s primary function is to keep the food
safe and preserve the quality of the food. The challenge with plastic food packaging is to
design them for recycling. It is challenging for recyclers to recycle materials which contains
different types of plastics and therefore a general guideline is to only use one type of plastics.
One example is PET trays in food packages which have a lower recyclability as they can
contain more than one type of plastics with different functions. This is, among other, to obtain
a barrier from the environment outside the packaging and protect the food it holds and
prolong the shelf-life of the food. The guideline for trays is to only use one type of material
which could lead to an increase material consumption to obtain the required properties to
protect the food. This is problematic, with regards to the environment (for example, CO 2 -
emissions), as a higher consumption of material is needed-unless the material is recycled.
The European Union’s transition towards a circular economy places high demands on
recyclers, plastic material manufactures and packaging manufactures. Therefore, a project on
the recyclability and design of PET trays have been performed in collaboration with AR
Packing Flexibles AB. Design for recycling is important as a part of the European plastic
strategy is to increase the recycling rates of plastics and make all plastic packaging recyclable
by 2030 to reduce the CO 2 - emissions. In addition, it is an important key for Europe to fulfill
the Sustainable Development Goals. This project was based on what recycling organizations
communicate (design for recycling guidelines) to plastic material manufactures and plastic
packaging manufactures, review of literature and by experimental work with different types
of materials for trays. An additional goal with this project was to find a constituent or material
to PET that would not require an increase material consumption and be compatible in PET
recycling. In addition, this project was to provide deeper knowledge about contaminants in
the recycling process for PET and to provide more knowledge to the food packaging industry
regarding design for recycling.
It is perhaps not a surprise that the general guideline in Europe is to design recyclable PET
trays with only PET. This is because there are many other types of plastics which are
contaminants in PET recycling. At the moment, it is likely that recyclable PET trays end up
being incinerated or, in worst case landfilled. Incineration and landfilling have higher
environmental impact than recycling. The infrastructure for recycling PET trays is still
developing and the short-term CO 2 -emissions might increase because of an increased material
consumption- until the recycling infrastructure has been developed.
The information regarding the protective properties of plastic food packaging with only one
type of material was low and not enough to do any conclusion. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9102828
- author
- Melcher, Leila LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- MTTM10 20221
- year
- 2022
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- PET, thermoforming, tray, EVOH, gas barrier, design for recycling, Modified Atmosphere Packaging
- language
- English
- id
- 9102828
- date added to LUP
- 2022-11-07 08:32:07
- date last changed
- 2022-11-07 08:32:07
@misc{9102828,
abstract = {{Europe is transitioning to a circular economy and have high recycling goals. By 2030 all packaging on the market should be recyclable. This is a challenge, especially for plastic packaging for food, which usually constitutes of different plastic materials. The demand from the recycling industry in Europe is to use mono material packaging as it is easier to recycle. This can become problematic for certain types of plastic packaging for food which require gas barrier materials to protect what it contains, e.g., Modified Atmosphere Packaging. The consequence of using mono materials is that the packaging needs to become thicker to obtain a barrier. The challenge for plastic packaging producers’ is to design materials for recycling when countries in Europe have different waste management systems. This study aimed to investigate if a low percentage of EVOH in PET-materials for thermoforming trays could be recyclable in Sweden, Germany, Netherlands, France, United Kingdom, Spain, and Italy. Further, if there was another barrier-solution which could be recyclable in the stated countries above. These subjects were investigated by comparing design for recycling guidelines, literature review and market analysis and through experimental work. The demand from the recycling industry was reflecting on the design for recycling guidelines as no commercially available barrier material was recommended. The recommendation was to use a thicker PET sheet to thermoform PET trays and therefore an environmental evaluation was performed for different scenarios.}},
author = {{Melcher, Leila}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Design of recyclable PET trays for foods that require high gas barrier}},
year = {{2022}},
}