{"id":179166,"date":"2026-04-27T07:22:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T05:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/?p=179166"},"modified":"2026-07-23T14:10:46","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T12:10:46","slug":"nextek-and-coveris-launch-fully-operational-demonstration-plant-for-food-grade-recycling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/nextek-and-coveris-launch-fully-operational-demonstration-plant-for-food-grade-recycling\/","title":{"rendered":"Nextek and Coveris launch fully operational demonstration plant for food-grade recycling"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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\u00a9 Coveris<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Following its announcement last year, the COtooCLEANTM<\/sup>\u00a0demonstration plant developed by\u00a0Nextek<\/a>\u00a0and Coveris, and supported by the\u00a0Alliance to End Plastic Waste<\/a>, is now fully operational at Coveris\u2019 ReCover site in Lincolnshire, UK. This marks a major step forward in advanced recycling of flexible films.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The plant showcases a breakthrough purification technology designed to convert post-consumer polyolefin (PE and PP) film waste into high-quality recycled resin suitable for food-grade applications. This operational phase represents a critical preparation step in tackling one of the industry\u2019s most complex challenges: enabling safe, compliant food-grade recycling from post-consumer flexible packaging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Developed by Nextek and scaled in partnership with Coveris, COtooCLEAN addresses the persistent issue of embedded contaminants in plastic films. Using supercritical CO\u2082 extraction, the process penetrates deep into the polymer structure to remove oils, odours and legacy substances that conventional mechanical recycling cannot fully eliminate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Edward Kosior, founder of Nextek and a recognised leader in polymer circularity, COtooCLEAN\u2019s high purification performance provides a critical complementary step to unlock higher-quality recycled materials and enable true circularity for flexible films.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By enabling significantly higher decontamination performance, the technology promises to pave the way for increased availability of food-grade recycled content bysupporting regulatory compliance and reducing reliance on virgin materials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This first-of-its-kind plant, built with the funding support from Alliance to End Plastic Waste, will allow the project to enter into its industrial phase, beginning in April 2026. This phase will enable the development of larger-scale operational experience and the generation of the data required for European regulatory approval, while demonstrating both scalability and commercial viability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThis project marks the next step in advancing Coveris\u2019 No Waste vision, with ReCover playing a central role in keeping plastics circular. With COtooCLEAN now fully operational, we are taking an important step in preparing to solve the food-grade recycling challenge for flexible films. Together with our advanced de-inking technologies, this innovation strengthens our mechanical recycling capabilities and\u00a0opens the next phase of solutions for more demanding applications\u201d, comments Bernhard Mumelter, Group Innovation Manager at Coveris Group.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCOtooCLEAN has the potential to improve both the rate and quality of flexible plastics recycling. This demonstration plant is an important step in validating the technology and supporting its path to wider deployment. It also reflects the Alliance\u2019s commitment to advancing practical, scalable solutions. By accelerating innovation and working with partners across the value chain, we are working to turn progress into real systems change,\u201d said Jacob Duer, President and CEO, Alliance to End Plastic Waste.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Industrial-scale trials will begin in April 2026 to generate the two years of data required by European regulators, while also showcasing the technology to industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

About Nextek<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Nextek Ltd is a leading sustainability technology consultancy specialising in innovative recycling solutions. Their COtooCLEAN process transforms post-consumer polyolefin films into high-quality, food-grade recycled materials, addressing one of the toughest challenges in plastic recycling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the Alliance to End Plastic Waste<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Alliance to End Plastic Waste is an independent global non-profit organisation, with the purpose to end plastic waste entering the environment and to create circular systems that keep materials and products in use for as long as possible. The organisation goes beyond connecting existing solutions, to building unique and impactful circular solutions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Following its announcement last year, the COtooCLEANTM\u00a0demonstration plant developed by\u00a0Nextek\u00a0and Coveris, and supported by the\u00a0Alliance to End Plastic Waste, is now fully operational at Coveris\u2019 ReCover site in Lincolnshire, UK. This marks a major step forward in advanced recycling of flexible films. The plant showcases a breakthrough purification technology designed to convert post-consumer polyolefin (PE […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":179169,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","nova_meta_subtitle":"The plant showcases a breakthrough purification technology designed to convert post-consumer polyolefin (PE and PP) film waste into high-quality recycled resin suitable for food-grade applications","footnotes":""},"categories":[17143],"tags":[10416,19537,7105,28245,14462,12805,12811,22835,10453],"supplier":[27975,17818,18176],"class_list":["post-179166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-recycling","tag-circulareconomy","tag-foils","tag-packaging","tag-plasticfoils","tag-plasticwaste","tag-polyethylene","tag-polypropylene","tag-recyclates","tag-recycling","supplier-coveris","supplier-nextek","supplier-the-alliance-to-end-plastic-waste"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179166"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179166\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":179180,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179166\/revisions\/179180"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/179169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179166"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=179166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}