Discover our Circular economy solutions: Multi-cycle Recycled Heavy Duty Sacks

Leading global raw materials producer ExxonMobil and plastics extrusion specialist Reifenhäuser have collaborated to develop a process to produce heavy duty sacks that meets the performance requirements despite multi-cycle recycling. Performance PE Polymers from ExxonMobil are used in a Reifenhäuser 5-layer FFS blown film line to produce PE resin bags, which can be fully recycled again and again and again. For demonstration purposes, the films were repeatedly produced with up to 37% recycled material. Even after four cycles, the stiffness, toughness, sealability, and processing efficiency of the sacks are fully retained. “Working together with Reifenhäuser has allowed the combination of our polymer and converting expertise to deliver high-performance heavy-duty sacks that include multi-cycle recycled polyethylene,” said David Hergenrether, ExxonMobil Chemical vice president, polyethylene. “This sustainable solution clearly demonstrates the benefits of collaboration to create differentiated solutions that meet the needs of the value chain.” FEEDSTOCK REMAINS IN THE SAME VALUE CHAIN Thanks to the R-Cycle, the recycling-relevant packaging properties of the composition can be read out in the recycling process. This information allows feeding used sacks as a raw material to the recycling process. The feedstock therefore remains in the same value chain, thus reducing the use of virgin material and preserving our fossil resources. Separating waste materials into pure sorted fractions and returning them to the same application are only possible by combining recyclable products and introducing an efficient tracking system in the recycling process. This avoids what is referred to as downcycling and ensures genuine recycling based on the cradle-to-cradle principle.