Danish packaging company Farch Plast has developed a new black crystalline polyethylene (CPET) material that can be detected by Near InfraRed (NIR) sensors. The move will enable recyclers to sort CPET in the mixed plastics waste stream.
The material has been developed by the company in conjunction with stakeholders WRAP, Nextek, Titech, Eurofins and supermarket retailers in the UK.
Farch Plast senior manager Jesper Emil Jensen said the company conducts research into the raw materials it uses and the business has been involved in a project aimed at making black trays more recyclable, during the past one year.
"Until now, recycling of black CPET has not been possible as it can't be detected by the NIR sensors used by most recyclers," Jensen said.
Faerch Plast uses about 99% of its raw materials directly in the manufacturing process with the remaining being sent for recycling or energy recovery.
