Coveris Netherlands has recently invested in a deCON 20 unit from Starlinger Viscotech, which presents an opportunity for customers to benefit from the environmental advantages of a post-consumer recycled PET (rPET) solution to their packaging.

This is the latest collaboration with Starlinger Viscotech, which sees the third deCON unit installed in a Coveris facility, following successful implementations in France and Poland. This recent development of recycling solutions at Coveris Netherlands delivers the opportunity to use sustainablerPET in packaging directly to the Dutch market.

Coveris has seen steady growth in PET volumes over recent years and the new deCON unit in the Netherlands is the next stage in this development. The use of post-consumer material is key to Coveris’ environmental strategy: reducing the need for virgin material, reducing carbon footprint and contributing to the management of our collective household waste.

The deCON technology allows post-consumer hot washed flakes, recovered mainly from national collection schemes, to be converted back into material suitable for direct food contact. The sourcing of hot washed flakes from suppliers and collection schemes local to Coveris sites contributes to a circular economy and further enhances the positive environmental impact.

Food safety is imperative, and careful control of the deCON process parameters, temperature, vacuum and residence time removes volatile contaminants to the levels specified by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Controlling process parameters, along with putting in place a rigorous quality control procedure, which ensures the quality of the incoming flakes and full traceability from bottle to final article, are essential for EFSA approval of the process. Coveris has been granted a positive EFSA opinion for the deCON process (RECYC0126).