Erema is winner at this year´s Plastics Recycling Awards Europe. At the award ceremony as part of the Plastics Recycling Show Europe at 5th November in Amsterdam, Erema was awarded for its recycling system Intarema TVEplus RegrindPro + ReFresher in the category Recycling Machinery Innovation of the Year. Thanks to the combination of its recycling machine with the ReFresher technology that reduces odour downstream of the extrusion process, Erema has enabled the PCR-HDPE produced with it to be used in proportions of up to 100 percent for the production of packaging for direct contact with food and beverages, as confirmed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The judges recongised this innovation as a step change in eliminating unwanted odour from waste plastics, allowing recyclate to replace virgin palstics in high end applications. This type of innovation is essential for meeting EU targets for recycled content of food contact plastics.
The market also confirms awarding this technology. By the end of 2021, Erema customers will produce 450,000 tonnes of high-quality, odor-optimized regranulate per year, with it.
This recycling process is seen as a key technology to recycle HDPE food packaging into recyclate to be reused in high quality packaging for cosmetic products or for food. “We are very pleased about this award, because it is a visible proof of the companies innovation capacity and the outstanding quality of the awarded recycling system”, says Michael Heitzinger, Managing Director Erema GmbH.
Food packaging made of PCR-HDPE
The Intarema TVEplus RegrindPro + ReFresher recycling process was also certified by the FDA in August 2019 as suitable for the production of milk and juice bottles, as well as meat trays, disposable tableware and cutlery, provided the input material comes from milk and juice bottles. In November 2020, the FDA confirmed an additional input stream and more application uses for the recyclate treated using this process. In addition to all HDPE beverage containers, HDPE closures of HDPE, PP and PET beverage bottles can also be processed. Material containing up to 100 percent recyclate can be used in the production of containers for direct contact with food of all kinds. An important milestone on the way to Circular Economy.
