Food grade rPP is obtained through a pyrolysis process consisting of the oxygen free combustion of non recyclable plastic materials in order to obtain a pyrolytic fuel equivalent to the fraction of petroleum used to obtain the polymers. This type of polypropylene provides the same quality and food safety standards than the original material, therefore making it suitable for food contact.
As opposed to mechanical recycling, recycled chemicals undergo an upcycling process whereby materials that could not be recovered otherwise are now used to produce new, high added value and food grade virgin plastic. In this manner, we prevent those materials from ending up outside the recycling system by instead bringing them into the reutilisation and waste recovery cycle.
Currently, availability for this type of material is low and the cost is higher than that of standard polypropylene. However, this recycled PP provides great advantages, such as obtaining virgin PP with the same mechanical, chemical and food safety features. In addition to being suitable for food contact, it does not require the replacement of modification of any moulds. So the percentage of recycled material used can be gradually increased with time.
Chemical recycling process
