L’Oreal has turned to Nextek and its innovative NextLoopp technology, as part of its project aimed at creating food-grade recycling polypropylene (rPP) from post-consumer packaging waste.
Through the project, L’Oreal conducted tracer-based sorting trials and commenced production trials of food-grade compliant rPP, and is said to have created 60 different products from NextLoopp’s four grades of PPristine food-compliant and INRT-grade rPP resins.
According to the company, the INRT-grade rPP has been developed specifically for packaging that requires no odour and no migration challenges.
“We have been working for many years to develop packaging made from high-quality post-consumer recycled polymers,” said Delphine Trillat, materials science domain leader at L’Oreal.
“Today, we are pleased to join the NextLoop project team in order to join efforts and boost the circular pathway for food-grade rPP packaging, with such a promising technology for the years to come.”
Through using a combination of technologies developed by Nextek to separate food-grade rPP from the rest, and then decontaminate the polymer to ensure compliance with food-grade standards in the UK, EU and the USA, it can identify and sort any number of pack variants – from shower gel bottles to yoghurt pots in any plastic type.
“Thanks to L’Oreal’s long-tern commitment to sustainable packaging, it is the ideal participant to trial our high purity rPP resins. We look forward to closing the PP loop with them,” said Edward Kosior, founder and CEO of Nextek.
Nextek’s NextLoopp was the overall winner of Packaging Europe’s Sustainability Awards 2021, and also received the Driving the Circular Economy award.
In March this year, L’Oreal partnered with Texen on a cap for Biotherm’s skincare collection, which was said to be made from 100 per cent rPP, and able to be adapted for different container shapes.
