Starlinger: FDA approval for PP cap-to-cap recycling process

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently issued a No Objection Letter (NOL) for the cap-to-cap recycling process for polypropylene on Starlinger's “recoStar dynamic” recycling system.

As the machine manufacturer further explains, the NOL applies to the production of bottle caps for beverages under conditions of use C to H. Bottle caps made from 100 per cent recycled post-consumer polypropylene produced using the Starlinger recycling process can therefore also be used for hot filling applications.

The machine configuration for the approved recycling process consists of a “recoStar dynamic” recycling extruder, equipped with a C-VAC degassing module for highly efficient degassing, and the ‘PCUplus’ unit at the end of the recycling process. This ensures permanent odour reduction and the complete removal of VOCs – important steps in the production of food-grade recyclates from post-consumer plastics.

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“In the beverage industry, PP and HDPE are the most commonly used materials for plastic bottle caps”, says Paul Niedl, Commercial Head, Starlinger Recycling Technology. “In 2021, we already received FDA LNO for our HDPE bottle-to-bottle and cap-to-cap recycling process. Now we can also close the loop for polypropylene beverage bottle caps, so that they can be returned to the recycling stream and reused without downcycling.”

More information: www.starlinger.com

Starlinger & Co. GmbH, Vienna, Austria