Syensqo and TOMRA partner to solve bottleneck of multilayer PVDC packaging sorting

Syensqo and TOMRA partnered to demonstrate technical feasibility of separating and sorting multi-component plastic structures in which polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC) serves as a barrier layer.

Syensqo and TOMRA partnered to advance the sorting of multilayer PVDC packaging waste.

Major industry standards claim that multilayer PVDC films cannot be sorted out of multilayer packaging structures.

The partners developed a set of experiments with multilayer samples of commercial packaging waste consisting of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and Syensqo’s Ixan PVDC.

With TOMRA’s advanced optical and near-infrared detection systems, the demonstration achieves a selectivity rate of more than 80% when sorting from post-consumer plastic mix and more than 95% when sorting from LDPE monolayer stream.

“This is yet another example of what today's technology, in this case our AUTOSORT™, can already do,” explained Marco Gregori, Area Sales Manager Italy at TOMRA Recycling Sorting.

The results have proven that multilayer films containing PVDC can be separated from mixed plastic waste using industrial sorting equipment to achieve clean-grade polyolefin and PVDC recycling streams.

Federico Baruffi, Global Marketing Manager of Specialty Polymers at Syensqo, stated that the project challenge the industry claim and demonstrated the contrary, notably with good accuracy and repeatability using existing industrial technology.