Nextlife’s post-consumer PP finds new life in housewares line

Post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastics supplier Nextlife will begin supplying its FDA-approved 100% PCR polypropylene (PP) for a new line of personal care, tableware, kitchen, and food-storage goods from Preserve Products. Preserve has built its business around reclaiming PP, SPI recycling code #5, a material many municipalities do not currently recycle, and transforming it into new Preserve products.

Nextlife produces PCR PP resins from plastic waste supplied by U.S. retailers, utilizing a proprietary sorting, washing, drying, and extruding process. The company's recycled resins can be mixed with virgin food-grade resins or used by themselves to create thermoformed or injection molded products, including cups, plates, cutlery, storage, and organization containers, as well as housewares accessories. Nextlife's PCR PP and polystyrene (PS) are FDA approved for food contact applications, and the materials' carbon footprint is 70% less than that of virgin resin.

Nextlife and Preserve (booth #S3649) are taking part in the International Housewares Show (March 6-8; Chicago, IL; McCormick Place), where Nextlife is the official sustainability partner of the International Housewares Association (IHA).

The company will be part of the Going Green display that showcases the year's best-in-class sustainable products and packaging. The display includes Preserve's Everyday Tableware and Preserve Toothbrush.

The Assn. of Postconsumer Plastics Recyclers (APR) estimates that U.S. grocery stores generate 350 million lb per year of PP and high-density polyethylene (HDPE)-the vast majority of which is currently treated as waste. The APR's Rigid Plastic Recycling Program is researching ways to promote recovery of PP and HDPE.

The APR's and American Chemistry Council's (ACC) 2009 plastic bottle recycling report found that PP bottle recycling totaled 27.0 million lb, an increase of 27% over 2008 with 48% of the total processed domestically as deliberate PP material, as opposed to mixed material flake. The report also noted that processing of recycled PP increased by 9 million lb in 2009 vs. 2008. PET and HDPE bottles comprise 96.3% of the U.S. plastic bottle market and about 99% of the bottles recycled, with the next largest market share held by PP at 2.2%. —PlasticsToday Staff