Mechanical recycling of polyamides in multilayer film structures

Due to the currently very pronounced focus on the mechanical recycling of packaging waste from households and here on the so-called "monomaterials" desired by the recycling industry and politics, the advantages of polyamides for high-performance and flexible packaging are being pushed into the background. Certain criteria, such as the reduction of the used plastic due to lower material thicknesses ("downgauging"), the associated reduction in plastic waste volumes or the improved utilization of foodstuffs due to extended shelf life in barrier packaging with polyamide, are not adequately taken into account. Yet these criteria play an important role when it comes to supplying food to a continuously growing world population and reducing packaging waste and food wastage.

The currently realized update concerning compatibility of coextruded PE/PA multilayer films in the category “LDPE and films” of “Minimum standard for determining the recyclability of packaging subject to system participation pursuant to section 21 (3) VerpackG of ZSVR in Germany is a first and extremely important step to consider the advantages of PA containing packaging structures as well as the latest state-of-technology in terms of recyclability of Polyamides into legislation basics. Due to the fact, that there are a lot of things to do, especially with focus to the still ongoing finalization of EU legislation, we as BASF will continue to work and argue for a serious categorization of Polyamides in flexible packaging structures.