Award-winning British Recycling Project, NEXTLOOPP, Hits Bullseye in Plastics Recycling Ahead of COP26
20.10.2021 12:30:00 EEST | Business Wire | Press release
NEXTLOOPP, the groundbreaking project by Nextek Limited, that recently won the overall award for ‘Best Sustainable Packaging Innovation’ at Packaging Europe’s Sustainability Awards - https://packagingeurope.com/sustainability-awards-2021-winners-revealed/ has revealed the results of its highly successful tracer-based sorting trials held at TOMRA (Germany) in September 2021.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211020005464/en/
NEXTLOOPP participants in the global project to close the loop on food-grade Polypropylene (Graphic: Business Wire)
The trials, to specifically sort food-grade plastic packaging waste, achieved a resounding 99.9% sorting purity at maximum production speed.
This demonstrates that Nextek’s unique technology efficiently differentiates food packaging from non-food packaging to meet the standards required by the Food Standards Authorities in the UK and EU. Being able to identify and sort any number of pack variants from bleach bottles to milk bottles in any plastic type is a world-first that will transform the way we recycle the prolific volume of single-use post-consumer food packaging waste back into circular applications.
This announcement marks 12 months of NEXTLOOPP’s programme to close the loop on food-grade Polypropylene (FGPP), which is the biggest plastic fraction in the FMCG sector. In the UK alone, 210,000 tonnes of FGPP packaging is used in pots, tubs, trays and films each year, and this cutting-edge innovation creates the opportunity to recycle Polypropylene (PP) back into food packaging.
This also heralds a new era in the plastics packaging recycling industry and the validation of NEXTLOOPP’s PolyPRISMTM ‘plug-and-play’ marker system, as used on TOMRA’s sorting equipment for commercial purposes.
Sorting plastic waste into polymer types is the first of three vital steps needed to close the loop on PP and create a global low carbon economy. The next step requires splitting the plastic packaging into food and non-food fractions. The final step involves NEXTLOOPP’s patented decontamination process, PPristineTM, which unlocks the markets to food packaging. Recycling 63,000 tonnes of PP per annum would save a minimum estimated 105,600 tonnes in CO2 emissions in the UK each year.
“During recent trials held at our TOMRA Test Centre we achieved very promising results on all Polypropylene 3D samples in all test runs with state-of-the-art NIR/VIS technology. We exceeded the required 95% purity for food-grade in each test run. The next important milestones will be a field demonstration as well as demonstrating chemical compliance with food-grade regulation” said Ralph Uepping, Technical Director at TOMRA.
Professor Edward Kosior, founder of Nextek, believes the NEXTLOOPP project is the catalyst to transform current FGrPP recycling and become the next food-grade recycling success story. PET was first and now it’s the turn of PP.
About Nextek Ltd
Nextek is a global sustainability consultancy that provides strategic advice to regional and multi-national organisations and recycling companies. Launched in 2004, Nextek researches and develops innovative strategies and processes within the recycling ecosystem – from designing recycling plants to developing ground-breaking projects for governments and major organisations. Nextek launched NEXTLOOPP, a two-year 37-strong project, to close the loop on food-grade recycled Polypropylene (rPP). This project incorporates unique technological breakthroughs that include innovative sorting and cutting-edge decontamination technologies.
About Tomra
TOMRA is a Norwegian multinational corporation that manufactures collection and sorting products, such as reverse vending machines for the food, recycling and mining industries. TOMRA is the market leader in its industry with over 100,000 installations in 80+ markets worldwide. Its Recycling Division has pioneered the automation of waste sorting.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211020005464/en/
Contact information
Janine Wood
Email: janinewood@nexteklimited.com
Tel: +44 (0)7831582659
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Reply Named EMEA Winner at the 2026 GitHub Services and Channel Partner of the Year Awards30.10.2026 14:23:00 EET | Press release
Reply [EXM, STAR: REY] announced that it has been named the EMEA winner in the 2026 GitHub Services and Channel Partner of the Year Awards, recognising customer outcomes and GitHub ecosystem impact across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261030597484/en/ Reply announced that it has been named the EMEA winner in the 2026 GitHub Services and Channel Partner of the Year Awards, recognising customer outcomes and GitHub ecosystem impact across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Reply helps organisations adopt GitHub and modernise software development. Its capabilities combine large-scale migration, automation and embedded security to bring fragmented development environments into a shared platform, supporting consistent governance and collaboration across engineering teams. A key example is Reply’s collaboration with Nexi, one of Europe’s leading PayTech companies, to transform s
Centralized Supply Chain Services, LLC (CSCS®), Applebee’s ®, and IHOP ® Recognize 2026 Supplier Partners of the Year30.10.2026 14:00:00 EET | Press release
Centralized Supply Chain Services, LLC (CSCS®), together with Applebee’s® and IHOP®, have named Pacific Prime Meats and Custom Foods of America their 2026 Supplier Partners of the Year, honoring the companies for their collaboration, innovation, and commitment to supporting restaurant success across the Applebee’s and IHOP systems. The awards were presented at the Applebee’s Franchise Conference and IHOP Supplier Summit in Austin, Texas. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261030647942/en/ Pacific Prime Meats was named 2026 Applebee’s Supplier Partner of the Year, recognizing the company’s exceptional responsiveness, agility, and support on behalf of the Applebee’s system. Pacific Prime Meats was named 2026 Applebee’s Supplier Partner of the Year, recognizing the company’s exceptional responsiveness, agility, and support on behalf of the Applebee’s system. “Pacific Prime Meats distinguished itself through its comm
Europerfusion 2026: Eurosets Introduces Trilly Baby, the New Oxygenator for Cardiopulmonary Bypass in the Smallest Patients30.10.2026 13:45:00 EET | Press release
Eurosets presents Trilly Baby at Europerfusion 2026 (Belgrade, October 30-31), a new oxygenator designed for cardiopulmonary bypass procedures in the smallest patients requiring open-heart cardiac surgery. Engineered to operate with flow rates from 0.1 to 1.8 liters per minute, Trilly Baby represents a further step in the evolution of the Italian biomedical company's cardiopulmonary portfolio. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261030531073/en/ Trilly Baby at Europerfusion 2026. Antonio Petralia, CEO of Eurosets, and Gabriele Pastorelli, Sr. Global Marketing Manager Cardiopulmonary - LATAM Area Manager The device, which is expected to achieve the CE mark by the end of 2026, will enter a controlled market release phase starting in January 2027. This initial controlled rollout will involve 14 leading European pediatric surgery centers, selected for their specialization in treating the smallest patients and in advan
Men’s Interest in Appearance Is Growing: 36% Say Looking Their Best Matters More Than Five Years Ago, NIQ Finds30.10.2026 12:45:00 EET | Press release
NielsenIQ (NYSE: NIQ), a global leader in consumer intelligence, today shared findings showing that 36% of men say looking their best, including beauty and skincare, matters more to them than it did five years ago. More than half (54%) say aging well has become more important over the same period. Yet the opportunity for beauty brands may extend beyond products specifically marketed to men. Across 10 Western European markets, sales value of skincare positioned for all genders grew 7% year over year, while male-targeted skincare was flat. The findings suggest that brands should look beyond traditional product positioning to understand men’s needs, shopping behavior, and the products they choose. In its report, The Permission Gap: The Global State of Male Beauty, NIQ examines how social expectations, generational differences and purchasing behavior are shaping men´s engagement with beauty across markets and categories. Key findings Appearance and aging matter more: 36% of men say looking
INSEAD Establishes Thrive Lab With US$3 Million Funding From Google.org and Google DeepMind30.10.2026 11:00:00 EET | Press release
INSEAD, The Business School for the World, today announced it has received US$3 million in funding from Google.org and Google DeepMind. The funding will support the Research Lab for Human and Organisational Thriving (INSEAD Thrive Lab), aimed at accelerating global research on how people and organisations can flourish in an era of continuous technological transformation. Artificial intelligence is emerging as the most consequential technology that profoundly shapes how people learn, work, live and interact with one another. While it presents near limitless possibilities, we need to give careful attention to the potential risks. How can we strengthen our human, social and psychological capital amid relentless technological change? And how must our ecosystems of learning – spanning educational, community, and professional spheres – evolve to build this capital? These are the central questions that the INSEAD Thrive Lab will focus on. "We want to understand how people can expand their cap
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom