The US Path to Polypropylene Recycling SuccessThe US Path to Polypropylene Recycling Success

The fifth and final Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5) meeting in Busan, South Korea, on November 25 represented a pivotal moment in the global effort to create a legally binding agreement to combat plastic pollution by 2040.

With some 3,000 unresolved sections the draft treaty is complex and reflects significant divergence among countries on key issues, creating a challenging negotiation process. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and related programs are expected to play a critical role, mandating brands to manage the lifecycle of their plastic products.

Closer to home, NextLooPP Americas is addressing one crucial element of the plastics circularity hurdle by mobilizing U.S.-based organizations to participate in closing the loop on one of the most prolific fractions of the plastics stream, polypropylene (PP).

Specifically for food-contact polypropylene packaging, which constitutes an estimated 70% of the PP stream.

A key driver of this collaborative project is the need to close the significant gap between PP production and food-grade PP recycling. NextLooPP Americas plans to hold its first official participant meeting in February 2025.

RICK LINGLE VIA CANVA

According to statistics, 1 million tons of post-consumer PP is landfilled annually. Of the 8 million tons of US-produced PP yearly, only 8% is recycled. That’s a major resource loss and a missed opportunity for recyclers and brands to transform this material into valuable food-grade rPP for the circular economy.

Drawing from NextLooPP’s four years of intensive R&D in Europe, the NextLooPP Americas program is designed to move faster and achieve higher goals. The initiative offers participants cost-effective benefits and a structure that avoids anti-trust concerns, reduces administrative and resource burdens, and delivers timely, cost-effective and cutting-edge results with significant carbon savings potential.

The clear goal is to deliver the required boost to the industry which appears to be stalled. Despite the US FDA issuing 21 No Objection Letters (NOLs) since early 2023, food-grade rPP is still not being used in food-contact packaging.

What's needed for food-grade PP recycling.

Addressing this disconnect is a primary focus of the NextLooPP Americas program. The program aims to establish supply chains and recycling facilities capable of producing food-grade PP under license, ultimately putting it to widespread use for food-contact applications.

The program involves 12 clearly defined steps to engage the entire PP packaging supply chain, both food and non-food. These steps begin with auditing PP waste streams in target regions of the Americas to characterize feedstock both physically and chemically. These extend to preparing submissions to the FDA for novel recycling processes, licensing advanced mechanical recycling technologies, and disseminating results to demonstrate the recyclability and value of post-consumer food-grade PP.

NextLooPP Americas will deploy a range of advanced technologies to achieve this, including AI-driven sorting, intensive cleaning, purification, enhanced washing, and high-performance decontamination.

AI can pinpoint polymer and packaging type. NEXTLOOPP

Artificial-intelligence driven sorting, for instance, will enable precise separation of food-grade PP packaging, ensuring the high levels of purity required for food-grade recycled materials.

Recycling post-consumer PP is a technically demanding but achievable process with modern equipment. The challenge now is investment in sustainable, low-carbon packaging and recycling systems. Addressing the recyclability of all plastics — particularly food-grade recycled PP — offers the best business case for expanding infrastructure and local recycling capacity.

An additional innovative aspect of the NextLooPP process is the development of high-performance grades from non-food fractions of post-consumer rPP. Known as PPristine INRT grades, these materials feature clean compositions and low VOC levels, making them ideal for sensitive cosmetic applications and low VOC automotive interior components.

PP recycling in US has more potential than Europe.

By tailoring NextLooPP Americas to local conditions, regulations, and resources, the program expects strong momentum from US businesses. The pressing need to demonstrate the recyclability of food-grade rPP may lead to even greater success in the US than in Europe.

Following the critical talks in Busan, where progress was made toward integrating mandatory production limits and promoting circular solutions to tackle plastic pollution comprehensively, it remains crucial for all actors within the plastics packaging ecosystem to sustain efforts and ensure the momentum leads to tangible, lasting impacts on a sustainable global plastic economy.

Learn more about NextLooPP  and food-grade polypropylene at PlasticsToday.