#Recycling / Circular Economy

2022-11-10

Third-party accreditations underline Berry's recycling commitment

As part of its commitment to support customers in the drive towards a circular economy and reduction in carbon footprint, Berry Global’s European flexible films division is adopting a standard approach to substantiate its recycled content claims, including for its Sustane® range of premium sustainable polymers made from 100% recycled plastic.

Berry is obtaining independent accreditation via EUCertPlast and RecyClass to ensure complete integrity, consistency, transparency, traceability and accurate accounting.

The third-party accreditations will provide customers with full reassurance as to the quality and authenticity of the recycled content present in Berry products. They form a key part of the company’s ambitious target to include at least 30% recycled content across its flexible films product range by 2025, as well as the group-wide commitment to include at least 10% post-consumer recycled (PCR) in all its packaging products by the same date.

“As the use of recycled material increases across Europe, third party accreditation will play a vital role in ensuring the necessary transparency and consistency,” commented Tony Nawar. VP Sustainability, Strategy & Innovation, Berry Packaging Solutions. “This is why we are actively accrediting both our sites and our products through recognised and respected bodies.”

EUCertPlast certification, which works to the European Standard EN 15343:2007, confirms that best practices are being followed throughout the recycling process for pre- and post-consumer waste. It covers stock management of incoming waste, the recycling process, quality management, staff training and qualifications, traceability in the supply chain and environmental protection. For complete customer peace of mind, the chain of custody provides full details of the origins of the waste material and the waste management company from which it was sourced.

Berry’s three recycling operations at Heanor and Dumfries in the UK, and Steinfeld in Germany, have already achieved EUCertPlast accreditation for all the different recycled grades produced across these facilities, including the market leading Sustane®. The remainder of the company’s flexible film manufacturing and recycling facilities are currently undergoing the accreditation process.

RecyClass, which also works to EN 15343:2007, is a comprehensive cross-industry initiative that advances plastic packaging recyclability and ensures traceability and transparency of recycled plastic content in Europe. RecyClass recycled content certification provides independent confirmation of the reliability of recycled content claims for individual products, again delivering customer reassurance.

Berry products which have already achieved RecyClass certification include Sustane® Form Fill and Seal Petro products manufactured at its site in Hardenberg, the Netherlands.

“The availability of high-quality circular resins is critical to companies as they seek to introduce more sustainable packaging to satisfy legislative requirements and consumer demand,” said Tony Nawar.

“By committing to independent, third-party accreditations for all our recycled materials, we can effectively demonstrate their quality and validity as we work with our customers in the development of appropriate solutions.”

For more information about Berry Circular Polymers, visit:

https://www.berryglobal.com/en/sustainability/berry-circular-polymers.

Berry and Glatfelter name new nonwovens heavyweight Magnera

Berry Global Group, Inc. (NYSE: BERY) and Glatfelter Corporation (NYSE: GLT) announced that the proposed merger of Berry's Health, Hygiene and Specialties Global Nonwovens and Films (“HHNF”) business with Glatfelter progressed further today with the creation of the Magnera brand (pronounced ‘Mag-nair-uh’), a global leader in the specialty materials industry.

HKRITA signs MoU with Jeanologia and Looptworks to establish the Green Machine Circular Textile Ecosystem

The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA) yesterday officially signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with two key global partners, Jeanologia and Looptworks, to establish the Green Machine Circular Textile Ecosystem – a first-of-its-kind collaboration to accelerate the large-scale recycling of blended textiles.

Object Carpet tests production of rPET BCF yarn on Neumag BCF line

In a joint project with Object Carpet GmbH, Denkendorf; the Institute for Textile Technology (ITA), Augsburg; and Next Generation Recyclingmaschinen GmbH (NGR), Feldkirchen, Austria, Barmag investigated the processing of recycled polyester for BCF yarn. The goal was to evaluate the fundamental suitability of 100% recycled carpet material for reuse in carpet yarn production to create a closed-loop system in carpet manufacturing. To date, commercial rPET BCF processes have been based solely on rPET from bottle pellets.

Albany International reports progress with Cyclezyme on industrial textile recycling project

Albany International Corp. (NYSE:AIN) reports continued progress in the ongoing project with Cyclezyme AB, a leader in advanced enzyme-based plastic recycling, based in Sweden. The project exemplifies leading edge innovation in materials science, focusing on the development of enzyme-based recycling of industrial textiles primarily consisting of polyester and polyamide, where there is currently a significant lack of effective solutions for circular material flows. The objective of the project is to establish enzymatic processes for depolymerization and recycling of technical textiles and high-performance industrial materials.

The textile industry in transition

Recycling, traceability, eco-design and digitalisation are among the key future challenges facing the European textile industry. The Erasmus+ project Skills4Circularity, involving 21 partners from twelve countries, is investigating the skills required to address these challenges. As the German industry partner, the Industry Association for Finishing – Yarns – Fabrics – Technical Textiles (IVGT) is bringing the industry’s perspective to the project.

2026 general meeting of the Friends and Supporters of RWTH Aachen at ITA

The Friends and Supporters of RWTH Aachen e. V. (proRWTH) looked back on a successful year of support at their 2026 general meeting. The meeting took place at Institut für Textiltechnik (ITA) of RWTH Aachen and was combined with a joint session of the Executive Board and the Administrative Board. Before the general meeting began, participants were given a guided tour of ITA, providing them with fascinating insights into current research and development topics in textile engineering.

Cotton ConneXions Insight to Impact brings supply chain leaders together around cotton innovation

Cotton Incorporated’s Cotton ConneXions Insight to Impact brought together more than 300 industry leaders from 140 companies across 10 countries, including more than 45 top global brands and sourcing organizations, underscoring strong global interest in cotton-rich product development, sourcing and supply chain collaboration.

Footwear innovation enabled by warp knitting technology– insights from New Balance

The future of the athletic shoe is increasingly being shaped on warp knitting machines. For KARL MAYER, the footwear industry is one of the most important growth markets – and one of the sectors where innovative textiles can realize their full potential. In his keynote address at the opening of KARL MAYER’s TEXTILE INNOVATION CENTER in Obertshausen in April, Vishnu Prakash Muthusamy, Senior Textile and Materials Engineer at New Balance, explained the opportunities that warp knitting technology opens up for performance, sustainability, and faster development processes, and why textile manufacturers are transitioning from suppliers to development partners.