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The future of sustainable products is called Post-Consumer Resin (PCR)
Francesca Sancinelli, director of the plastic department of Montello Group, points out as during 2020 the role of plastics has been reconsidered and, its importance for health - such as in the medical device sector – has been rediscovered. Plastic - with its properties and versatility - is able to combine evolu- tion and safety with sustainability. Therefore, the achievable and desirable goal is reconfigured in the “waste plastic free”, that is in eliminating the presence of plastic in landfills and, thus, in recovering all plastic waste.
The fulfilment of a world without plastic waste necessarily passes through the evolution in the use of PCR (i.e. the deriv- ing from the separate collection we all do at home) articulated on different levels: from the packaging design - in order to make it easier to recycle- to the technological enhancement and improvement of the recovery and recycling plants - aimed at reducing processing waste, and in expanding the utilisation of the Secondary Plastic Materials (SPM) for the production of plastic packaging and products.
The path undertaken with determination by the European Commission will in fact, leads to place on the market - only and exclusively - recyclable packaging in all its components and, when possible, made from a single polymer. Doing so will be possible to reuse all packaging released for consumption, drastically diminishing the employment of virgin polymers and the amount of processing waste resulting from the recov- ery and recycling phases. In support of this revolution, con- tained in the European circular economy package, the Plastic Recycling Europe drafted the guidelines that suggest which materials to use, and which not use, for the production of high-performance plastic packaging for recycling purposes. Studies on the production of recycled and recyclable packag- ing and, at the same time, suitable for food contact are still in progress with interesting solutions on the table, such as dou- ble layers and functional barrier. In the case of rigid trays, for example, there is the chance of making their external parts with PCR, while the internal ones, intended to get in direct contact with food, with virgin plastic material. In this way it is possible to guarantee the product shelf-life and the compli- ance with food safety laws.
The steady increase in the utilisation of PCR by the processing industry is already a reality. This thanks to citizens - who are becoming more and more careful and competent in differenti- ating their waste, to continuous investments in technology for augmenting the quantity of recycled polymers and to the sup-
port given to companies who are approaching the world of recycled materials for the first time. In order to consolidate this trend, it is crucial that the legislation and certification systems guarantee origins and conformity of recycled materials.
In this scenario, where environmental sustainability is one of the main global strategic directions, together with health, and in which citizens consider waste as a resource to be exploited, the future is therefore, in the increasingly widespread and con- scious use of PCR in all fields, so that products will be more and more eco-friendly, traceable and certified, in a word safer, for the planet and its inhabitants. A path that Montello, thanks to my father, has undertaken 25 years ago, Francesca Sancinelli remembers proudly.
Montello S.P.A.
Via Fabio Filzi, 5 24060 Montello (BG) Tel. +39 035 689111 Fax +39 035 681366 info@montello-spa.it www.montello-spa.it
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