Amcor inaugurates Greenback recycling technology

Greenback Recycling Technologies and Amcor have welcomed Mary Creagh CBE MP, nature and circular economy minister, to Amcor's Heanor facility for the official commissioning of the first UK deployment of Greenback's Enval advanced recycling module.

The visit highlighted work on circular plastics being done by both companies, in association with the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, to trial technology which can recycle post-consumer flexible plastics into food-grade circular plastics feedstock.

The advanced recycling process under trial at the Heanor facility is evaluated by eco2Veritas traceability platform, which uses AI and IoT devices to capture data from the receipt of waste through to the production of pyrolytic oil. The oil carries a digital certificate of provenance, providing data for mass-balance allocation as the oil is converted into recycled plastics.

This step marked the completion of Greenback's Enval module installation and is the first time the company's modular advanced recycling technology is hosted by a global packaging leader in Europe. The collaboration with Amcor aims to showcase the potential for co-locating modular recycling units within existing industrial infrastructure.

The Heanor site was selected because of its expertise in the use of recycling technologies. The facility already plays a vital role in converting post-consumer and industrial flexible plastic waste, via mechanical recycling, into high-quality recycled polymers used in Amcor's flexible packaging applications across multiple markets.

'This is an exciting example of how shared action between government and the private sector can tackle the world's plastic waste mountain through innovation, infrastructure investment and collaboration,' said Mary Creagh, nature and circular economy minister. 'This commissioning reflects the government's broader ambition to build a resilient, circular economy by reusing the plastics which already exist.'

'This commissioning demonstrated how collaboration and innovation can accelerate scalable circular offerings,' commented Philippe G. von Stauffenberg, founder and CEO of Greenback. 'We are proud to work with Amcor and government stakeholders to scale technologies that keep plastics in the economy and out of the environment.'

'The trial of this pioneering technology at Heanor reinforces our commitment to improving circularity for flexible packaging and supporting UK policy objectives for a more sustainable future,' added Andrew Green, vice president at Amcor Flexibles EMEA.