Joining Forces for Circular Economy to Produce All-PE Digitally Printed Pouches in Line with Design Guidelines for Mechanical Recycling

It all starts with Hosokawa Alpine extrusion line and Borealis resins. An MDO PE film is extruded using the 5-layer Hosokawa Alpine extrusion line and Borealis full solution including BorShape™ high performance resin for optimized film flatness and converting.

The PE sealant film is extruded using Borealis resins including Queo™ and Anteo™ grades for outstanding sealing.

The process continues in the HP Experience Center in Barcelona where beautiful artwork is reverse printed on MDO PE film using the HP Indigo 25K digital press.

HP Indigo digital technology allows on-demand printing on recyclable media, reduce waste as well as transportation costs.

Multiple SKUs are now possible to handle with no need for plates, cliches nor cylinders. HP Indigo enables clients to be the most sustainable flexible packaging convertor in the world, and not less important take active impact on global climate crisis.

Once printed, Henkel laminates the different layouts with the solvent free adhesive LOCTITE LIOFOL LA 7102 RE / LA 6902 RE.   

This adhesive has been optimized for mechanical recycling and is certified as compatible with PE recycling according to RecyClass testing protocols.

Material is converted into pouches at Karlville SWISS factory on KS-DSUP-400 pouch machine. Stand-up pouches with zipper and tear notch were manufactured at high quality standards.

The KS-DSUP-400 pouch machine is the perfect fit for digital printing and recyclable materials.

When disposed, pouches are collected, sorted and washed, followed by extrusion, filtration, homogenization, degassing and pelletizing in the extruder system INTAREMA® TVEplus® plus ReFresher for removing odour.

This recycling machine combination was developed by Erema, the world's number one in developing and manufacturing plastics recycling machines.