Insightful talk with Antoine Bourely of Pellenc on sorting technologies for bioplastics

Insightful talk with Antoine Bourely of Pellenc on sorting technologies for bioplastics. Antoine reported that

Pellenc ST has been extensively testing the sortation of bioplastics within the European project SEALIVE. All polymers tested have been perfectly separated from fossil–based plastics in the laboratory, and PLA has been well–sorted in a Spanish materials recovery facility (MRF) operated by Urbaser. This sortation did not create any loss of other plastics from that MRF. Additionally, lab tests have shown the ability to separate the bioplastics from each other in 4 main classes: PLA, PHA (including PHV and PHBV), PB+ (including PBS, PBSA, PBAT), and Cellulose Acetate. This opens the door to many end-of-life opportunities for bioplastics, including composting and recycling, and especially so, since most sorting lines in Europe already use a NIR (near–infrared) system.  

And as for the design of bioplastic packaging, the top suggestions of Antoine Bourely to product designers are

to avoid multilayer products, privilege simplicity in design, and favour recycling of bioplastic as an end-of-life option, regardless of whether it is home compostable or not. 

Listen in to the talk or download the presentation

More resources about the SEALIVE project:

• Results in open access
• Project website