Foil2Inject

The aim of the Foil2Inject project is to evaluate the recyclability of flexible monomaterial packaging with inorganic coatings into rigid packaging.

The new Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) sets several ambitious targets for the use of packaging in the EU, including encouraging reuse, reducing single-use packaging and increased use of recycled materials in new applications.

Designing flexible packaging to improve recyclability is mainly associated with a monomaterial structure of the films. An increasing trend in the food sector is therefore the use of OPP//PP laminates with inorganic coatings such as metallization or aluminum oxide vapor deposition, which account for less than 10% of the film weight. This improves the barrier properties and product protection, and the material can be considered a monomaterial.

Despite the recyclability of polypropylene, the processing of PP recyclates from films for packaging applications still poses a challenge, particularly regarding material homogeneity, impurities and processing properties.

The Foil2Inject project aims to investigate the processing of recycled PP films in injection molding applications and to analyze the influence of inorganic coatings and sealing layers on actual recyclability. The focus here is on determining the influence on the mechanical and optical properties as well as on the processing properties of the injection molding process (temperature, pressure, throughput). Deviations from the processing of virgin material are recorded.

The research results should provide insights into how different recyclate proportions from a recyclable material stream (PP films) affect its use in injection molding and thus expand the range of applications for PP recyclates.