Coalition Food2Food kicks off in Netherlands

The operational and financial effects of transitioning to a circular plastic chain are also investigated. Details will be established on how this new technique can grow towards market acceptance and commercial applications. The coalition wants to make a tangible contribution to solving the plastic problem.

According to FiliGrade, recycling single-use food packaging is an urgent social problem, as it represents approximately 40 percent of the plastic volume in the Netherlands and is almost entirely produced from fossil raw materials. 

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has strict requirements for food packaging. The use of recycled plastic to produce plastic food packaging requires its approval and must comply with quality standards, including high-quality sorting.

Dutch Plastic Pact asked the Food2Food project group in 2019 to investigate which technologies are suitable to efficiently separate plastics from waste streams. The digital watermark CurvCode, developed by FiliGrade based in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, was then determined as a technology showing potential. 

During the test program, the operation of CurvCode will be validated under industrial conditions. Completing the test program is expected in the second quarter of 2022 when proposals for commercial introduction should also be ready.

The project is one of five Dutch Moonshot breakthrough projects supported annually by the Acceleration House. Het Versnellingshuis (Accelaration House) is a partnership of VNO-NCW, MKB-Nederland, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, MVO Nederland and Het Groene Brein (Green Brain).

Participating parties include Avery Dennison, Bordex Packaging, Bliston Packaging, Bond Seafood, Cumapol/Cure, Dijkstra Plastics, FiliGrade Sustainable Watermarks, FrieslandCampina, Guillin, Haval, Hordijk Verpakkingen, Indorama/Wellman Recycling, Jumbo, Klöckner Pentaplast, Kornelis Caps and Closures, Meulendijks Packaging, Multivac, NNZ, Oerlemans Packaging Group, Paardekooper, Plato Product Consultants / University of Twente, Signature Foods, SPAR, Terbeke, TNO-Brightlands Material Center, Unilever, Veolia, Verstappen Advanced Packaging, Wageningen University & Research.