The fourth strategic R-Cycle consortium meeting focused on practical applications. On April 28, project managers and managing directors of the consortium members met – digitally via video conference due to Corona – and presented their operational activities. It became clear that R-Cycle is no longer a concept or a pure development project – the first applications have already found their way to two international trade fairs, where they met with lively interest.

At HANNOVER MESSE 2021 (Digital Edition), for example, R-Cycle partner ARBURG presented a “smart” turnkey system for producing sustainable PP Cups that are finished in an integrated digital printing station. All recycling-relevant production data is thereby recorded in the R-Cycle platform and can be retrieved via a data matrix code for improved waste sorting. In this way, each cup can be traced and separated by type, which is the basis for obtaining high-quality recyclates.

Arburg’s turnkey line produces sustainable PP Cups, for each of which a digital product passport is generated in the R-Cycle standard, which can be retrieved via data matrix code, thus enabling traceability and precise waste sorting.

Reifenhäuser showed another application: at Chinaplas 2021, the film specialists presented an All-PE Pouch manufactured together with partners Comexi and Wolf Verpackungsmaschinen. The pouch, made of a mono-PE composite, is fully recyclable and identifiable via the digital product passport via R-Cycle. Based on the data provided, the individual process steps can also be optimized.

Dr. Benedikt Brenken, Director R-Cycle Initiative, explains: “Presenting our solutions to a broad live audience for the first time is extremely exciting. We get direct feedback this way and new approaches and conversations arise. Sustainable packaging and digital traceability across the various stages of the value chain are a global trend. This is also reflected in particular by the high level of interest in R-Cycle at Chinaplas. Here we had significantly more positive response than we would have suspected. We discussed these and many other findings from the past quarter at management level during our fourth strategic consortium meeting and incorporated them into our roadmap accordingly.”

Reifenhäuser, Comexi and Wolf Verpackungsmaschinen jointly manufacture a fully recyclable all-PE pouch that can be identified via R-Cycle.