The Wrap-funded research involves eight companies and institutes

The Wrap-funded research involves eight companies and institutes

UK bottle blowers could be using food-contact recycled HDPE if a 12-month Europe-wide project is successful. The project funded by Wrap aims to find cost-effective ways of using recycled HDPE to make milk bottles.

Wrap told PRW.com it aimed to “close the loop” on milk bottle recycling, and examine aspects of the collection, sorting, recycling and re-use of recovered HDPE. The government-funded body has awarded Ј235,000 (E159,000) to a consortium of eight companies and institutes to carry out the research.

Wrap claims there are still no commercially viable processes capable of producing food-grade PE from UK post-consumer recyclate. The research will develop a process that will build on previous studies in “super clean” processes for bottle-to-bottle recycling of post-consumer PET. It will look at the absorption and migration characteristics of HDPE and contaminants found in the material.

It will trial two cleaning processes in removing contaminants. Austrian firm Erema will look at vacuum stripping, and Rapra Technology will assess a process using super critical CO2.

Nampak Plastics of Milton Keynes will look at bottle blowing using HDPE containing recyclate, and Dairy Crest will fill and test the shelf life of the bottles. Delleve Plastics will also source baled bottles from UK suppliers.