The main agents of the plastics production and recycling value chain in Spain have an appointment in Valencia on May 29 and 30. The Congress Meeting Pack 2019, organized by the technology centers AINIA and AIMPLAS, will gather under the title ‘Trends in sustainable barrier packaging’ the most important initiatives and projects in terms of sustainability and circular economy in this sector. The Plastic Sense Foundation will participate as a speaker with the aim of introducing the advances that are already being achieved in the production and recycling of the PET food tray.
Mercedes Gómez Paniagua, general director of the Foundation, will explain how a new crucial gear is being generated in the circular economy of the sector through the ECOSENSE certification, which has boosted the incorporation of more than 20.000 tons of recycled PET flake from post-industrial waste and post-consumption of PET food tray in new trays since 2017.
Gómez Paniagua will also introduce the collaborative European project RETRAY -Recycling and recyclability of the PET food tray-, which aims to promote the recovery of these trays after consumption. RETRAY will respond to the main current challenge in innovation for the sector: the adequate channeling of the waste stream to achieve profitable and efficient recycling, as well as ensuring the recyclability of the tray by incorporating simple eco-design criteria.
Both initiatives connect directly with the leitmotiv of Meeting Pack 2019, which is part of the Horizon 2030 project of innovation and competitiveness. Europe has marked that year as the limit to reach a market full of reusable or recyclable plastic packaging, and for this the concept of circular economy, recycling and eco-design will be key factors that will be present in this meeting.
The intervention on ECOSENSE and RETRAY in this congress will be on May 30 at 11.20 am, in a session entitled ‘Eco-design, recyclability and certification’. See you in Valencia!