A demonstration plant for food-grade recycling of flexible plastic films is now operational at Coveris’ ReCover site in Lincolnshire, UK, using purification technology developed by Nextek.
The facility uses COtooCLEAN technology to convert post-consumer polyolefin (PE and PP) film waste into recycled resin suitable for food-grade applications. It targets a key industry challenge: enabling compliant, food-grade recycling from post-consumer flexible packaging.
The process uses supercritical CO2 extraction to remove embedded contaminants from plastic films. In this state, CO2 behaves as both a gas and a liquid, allowing it to penetrate polymer structures and dissolve substances such as oils, odours and residual legacy contaminants that conventional mechanical recycling cannot fully eliminate.
According to Edward Kosior, founder of Nextek, the technology’s purification performance provides “a critical complementary step” to enable higher-quality recycled materials and support circularity for flexible films.
The plant, described as first-of-its-kind and built with funding support from the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, marks the start of the project’s industrial phase from April 2026. This phase is intended to generate operational data required for European regulatory approval, while demonstrating scalability and commercial viability.
“This project marks the next step in advancing Coveris’ No Waste vision, with ReCover playing a central role in keeping plastics circular. With COtooCLEAN now fully operational, we are taking an important step in preparing to solve the food-grade recycling challenge for flexible films,” says Bernhard Mumelter, group innovation manager at Coveris Group.
He adds that the technology, alongside the company’s de-inking processes, strengthens its mechanical recycling capabilities and supports applications with higher requirements.
Jacob Duer, president and CEO at the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, says the plant is “an important step in validating the technology and supporting its path to wider deployment”, adding that it reflects efforts to develop scalable solutions through collaboration across the value chain.
Industrial-scale trials will begin in April 2026 and are expected to generate two years of data required by European regulators, while also showcasing the technology to industry.
