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The Reborn Group stated that it will launch France's first film deinking line for polyethylene (PE) film at its plant in Ogeu-les-Bains.

With its new deinking line, Reborn will seek to solve the printing ink challenges in the plastic film recycling process. Printing inks can disrupt the manufacture of transparent secondary materials, and even cause plastic films to be downgraded to products such as garbage bags, thereby hindering the establishment of a circular economy.

Reborn's deinking production line will be named B.Clear. According to the company, this is the third such equipment installed in Europe and the first in France. In addition, plans for a second production line have been made, which may be expanded in another Reborn plant in France in 2022.

Using B.Clear technology, Reborn claims that it can recycle 4,00 tons of printed PE film per year, with an estimated recycling potential of 100,000 tons. Reborn added that transparent, high-value-added secondary materials and recycled films—previously hampered by the presence of printing inks—are the expected output of B.Clear.

Arthur Lepage, Chairman of Reborn Group, commented: “Reborn Group does not recycle printed plastic film because our customers (mainly from the food and health sector) first need transparent products.”

Currently, Reborn cooperates with companies such as Coca-Cola, Lactalis, InBev, Bonduelle and Unilever.

"Because of the large amount of printed film, we see an opportunity," Lepage added. "However, there must be specific equipment, which does not exist in France."

The expansion of its Ogeu-les-Bains plant includes expertise for this task, which involves more than five years of research and development, and an investment of 3 million euros for the installation of industrial equipment required for deinking PE film.

Lepage said: “This is the first machine of its kind installed in France and has many advantages: it increases the collection of post-consumer, industrial and commercial waste by 30% and increases the production of secondary materials.

"This will enable us to achieve our goal of 35,000 tons of recycled plastic film by 2025."  

Reborn signed the Global Pledge for the New Plastics Economy in 2018, working with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation as part of the company's commitment to turn waste into resources. Looking ahead, the company plans to become a major supplier of high-quality recycled PE pellets from other manufacturers.

Although the French government's ban on plastic packaging for fruits and vegetables indicates that policymakers and the public are moving away from single-use plastics, package reduction methods may also pose challenges for companies such as Reborn.

Globally, the shortage of new resins has led to a sharp increase in raw material prices in 2021-another potential obstacle.

Nevertheless, Lepage seems hopeful for the future of recycled PE: "There is a lot of discussion about PET plastic bottles and recycling needs, but the supply of polyethylene (PE) plastic film is almost the same, accounting for 30% of the plastic market, which is greatly underestimated.

"The potential for collection and recycling is very large, especially in industrial services and commerce.

"This is where Reborn comes in: we want to promote a huge market segment waiting to be upgraded."

Victoria Hattersley spoke with Steve Sena, vice president of business development at Truvant, a packaging service provider, to find out.

Philippe Gallard, Global Innovation Director of Nestlé Water, discussed the trends and latest developments from recyclability and reusability to different packaging materials.

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