Biffa signs long-term R-HDPE food-grade pellet supply agreement with Muller UK

LONDON (ICIS)–UK waste management and recycling major Biffa has signed a long-term food-grade recycled high density polyethylene (R-HDPE) pellet supply agreement with Muller UK, the company said in a statement.

Biffa could not confirm the volume covered by the agreement or its length, but a company source said that announcements of similar supply agreements with other companies were expected in the next few days.

The material will be used in Muller’s milk bottles and will be sourced from post-consumer milk bottles.

In the UK, plastic milk bottles are manufactured from HDPE, while across the majority of Europe polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is used.

This gives the UK a unique supply of easily sorted and separated supply of food-contact post-consumer material that is not available elsewhere in Europe.

The European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) dictates that food-grade approved material must have originated from waste containing at least 95% food contact post-consumer waste.

Although some food-grade material across Europe is manufactured from post-industrial agriculture, meat, and in-transit packaging materials, volumes are small and the UK is the major source of food-grade HDPE in Europe.

There is no equivalent source of post-consumer low density polyethylene (LDPE). The UK collects around 100,000 tonnes/year of post-consumer milk bottles.

Shortages of food-grade material have limited market growth and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) adoption across recycled polyolefins.

Major recycled polyolefin packaging growth is predominantly coming from the cosmetic and household goods sectors. Players in these sectors are not legally mandated to use food-grade material, although they traditionally have in order to easily reach technical specifications.

Cosmetic and household goods firms are gradually shifting to other material types – most commonly natural pellets – but this is a slow process because of long testing cycles of typically up to 18-months.

ICIS has launched a new Europe recycled polypropylene (R-PP) price report covering post-consumer and post-industrial bales, flakes and pellets. To subscribe to the new report, or for further information, please contact clientsuccess@icis.com.

Click here to see regulatory targets and a list of chemical and mechanical recyclers on the ICIS Circular Economy topic page.