“We are really proud to lead this extensive collaboration project, which will contribute to reduced plastic consumption and green transition. To succeed, we have gathered 18 key players from the value chains for food, packaging, reuse and recycling. We will cover the entire development process from idea to finished product,” says Bente Torstensen, CEO of Nofima.

The project’s owner is Nortura and Nofima leads the project.

Large societal and business benefits

Over the next three years, interdisciplinary work will be done to solve the challenges we face, and to the new requirements set in the EU’s new packaging regulation, which will also become part of Norwegian law.

The purpose is to develop and demonstrate circular solutions for plastic packaging for food within reuse and mechanical recycling, as well as material reduction to reduce the consumption of virgin plastic that requires value chain cooperation, and should cover the entire course from idea to finished product

“We will focus on developing well-functioning reuse solutions and mechanical recycling. Another important ambition is to reduce material use so that the consumption of virgin plastic goes down,” says project manager Marit Kvalvåg Pettersen, senior researcher at Nofima.

Lower material use and technology development within recycling will reduce the use of plastic by a minimum of 42,000 tons. These savings provide a direct reduced CO₂ footprint of approximately 50,000 tons of CO₂ equivalents. In addition, the technology that is developed will contribute to increased recycling and use of recycled packaging from other actors. This will result in a reduction of at least 133,000 tons of CO₂ equivalents. The value creation from the project is estimated to be over 2.1 billion kroner.

The relevant societal benefits will be:

• Less plastic waste for incineration or export and reduced amounts of raw plastic material are imported.
• Quality and durability of Norwegian food are ensured.
• New technology is developed with the possibility of use in other industries that have or will have requirements for increased recycling and use of recycled plastic material.
• A minimum of 400 new Norwegian jobs and maintenance of Norwegian food production.

Development of recycling technology

In the Re3-Plast project, participants will develop and test technology and solutions to make food packaging recyclable, as well as improve sorting and decontamination, thereby increasing the use of recycled content in food packaging. Norner is leading this work.

One of the pillars of the project is to develop new technology for recycling. Today, almost no recycled plastic is used for food packaging. There is a good reason why the rules are strict. It’s about being absolutely sure that no harmful substances come into contact with the food.

“We will develop food packaging with 50% recycled plastic. It has to be designed for recycling, be able to be effectively sorted, and be recycled to a sufficiently good quality so that virgin plastic raw material can be replaced”, says researcher Tanja Radusin at Norner.

Thor Kamfjord, Director of Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility at Norner, says, “We are incredibly happy to be able to contribute to such a comprehensive collaborative project that will provide green transformation, reduced plastic consumption, exceed expected environmental requirements, and thus lay the foundation for a more sustainable and competitive business environment”.

Contact Norner:

• Kjetil Larsen: +47 97 05 05 32, e-post: kjetil.larsen@norner.no
• Thor Kamfjord: +47 97 05 05 34, e-post: thor.kamfjord@norner.no
• Ole Jan Myhre: +47 90 75 67 25, e-post: olejan.myhre@norner.no

About Grønn Plattform: https://www.forskningsradet.no/sok-om-finansiering/gronn-plattform/