How Shredding Boosts Packaging Recycling Targets

The European Union’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) mandates specific recycled content targets for new packaging to drive a circular economy. According to equipment provider Vecoplan AG, meeting these targets depends on overcoming the price advantage of virgin plastics and utilizing advanced shredding and cleaning technologies to ensure material purity for high-demand markets like food-contact packaging.

Virgin Plastic Prices Create Structural Barriers to PPWR Compliance

Economic viability remains the primary hurdle for companies attempting to meet EU recycled content quotas. Tim Hamer, director of sales at Vecoplan, states that a structural problem exists as long as virgin plastics are often cheaper than processed recyclates. This price gap limits the extent to which users will employ recycled materials.

Small and medium-sized enterprises face additional pressure from rising costs and a lack of planning certainty. Vecoplan reports that these conditions currently inhibit necessary investments in recycling infrastructure, despite global production figures indicating that plastic will remain an essential material in supply chains.

Solving the Purity Gap for Food-Contact Packaging

To avoid downcycling, reprocessed plastics must meet the strict quality standards required for demanding packaging markets. Vecoplan notes that material quality is tied to the composition of input material and the efficiency of sorting technologies. High contamination levels lead to a decline in end-product purity, which Hamer describes as a matter of achieving purity “efficiently and consistently under real-world conditions.”

The company argues that a holistic approach is required to prevent quality loss. This involves the optimal interaction of three specific process stages: shredding, sorting, and cleaning. By aligning these stages, firms can produce consistent material qualities suitable for food-grade applications.

Reducing Operational Costs via Shredding Optimization

Efficiency gains start at the initial processing phase. According to Hamer, optimizing cutting geometries and designing shredding systems for specific applications can lead to efficiency gains of up to 30 percent. This reduction in energy consumption and increase in throughput directly lowers the cost per ton of processed material.

Dry Cleaning Technology as an Alternative to Water-Based Systems

Water consumption and residual moisture are significant costs in the recycling chain. Vecoplan integrates technology from its subsidiary, Pla.to, which specializes in a dry cleaning process. This method allows the combined shredding and cleaning process to operate entirely without water.

According to the company, this non-water-based process offers two primary advantages:

• Direct Production: It can provide sufficient quality for certain demanding markets, removing the need for resource-intensive wet cleaning.
• Pre-Cleaning: In complex processes, it serves as a pre-cleaning stage to reduce overall water usage, which aids in the production of extrudable flakes.

Future Trends in Plastic Circularity

The transition toward a fully functioning circular economy for plastics will likely shift toward flexible technologies. Vecoplan suggests that dry cleaning and optimized shredding help reduce investment uncertainty, allowing companies to develop their processing concepts gradually.

The ability of the industry to meet PPWR targets will ultimately depend on the alignment of regulatory mandates with these economically viable technical solutions. As the EU continues to enforce binding frameworks, the focus is moving from “whether” recycling is possible to “how” it can be scaled.