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
BTG Pactual Timberland Investment Group Raises US$1.24 Billion for Largest Reforestation Fund to Date[1]28.4.2026 18:00:00 EEST | Press release
BTG Pactual Timberland Investment Group (BTG Pactual TIG), one of the world’s largest timberland managers, today announced the close of fundraising for its Latin American Reforestation Strategy, reaching US$1.24 billion in commitments. This represents the largest reforestation fund closed to date,1 providing a model for large-scale reforestation and restoration that seeks to deliver durable climate impact, tangible benefits for rural communities, biodiversity outcomes, and sustainable commercial production. Global environmental organization Conservation International serves as Impact Adviser to the strategy, providing input and advice to help strengthen environmental, climate, and social outcomes related to the strategy’s conservation and restoration activities. Together, BTG Pactual TIG and Conservation International are advancing an approach that aims to conserve, restore, and reforest approximately 660,000 acres of degraded landscapes in Latin America. The approach blends commercial
Qatar Implements Relief Measures to Support Business Community28.4.2026 17:56:00 EEST | Press release
Qatar has activated a comprehensive package of support measures designed to maintain market stability and reinforce investor confidence amid evolving regional conditions. These measures, delivered through the nation’s foreign direct investment ecosystem, provide immediate financial, regulatory and operational relief to Qatar’s international business community. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260428904909/en/ Infographic highlights key relief measures implemented in Qatar to support the business community (Infographic: AETOSWire) H.E. Sheikh Faisal bin Thani Al Thani, Minister of Commerce and Industry and Chairman of Invest Qatar, stated: “Qatar’s commitment to its business community is unwavering. As regional conditions continue to evolve, we remain fully focused on acting decisively to support companies operating in our market, safeguard business continuity and reinforce confidence. Our approach is grounded i
Dubai’s Medcare Hospital Becomes the World’s First to Treat an Adult Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) Patient Outside the US28.4.2026 16:57:00 EEST | Press release
Medcare Royal Speciality Hospital (MRSH) in Dubai has become the world’s first hospital outside the USA, to offer a newly licensed intrathecal gene therapy - Itvisma, to adult patients with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). This one-time treatment was recently administered to a 22-year-old Egyptian patient, who was diagnosed at 18 months and confined to a wheelchair for most of his life. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260428038416/en/ Dr. Vivek Mundada with Medcare multidisciplinary medical team (Photo: AETOSWire) Last year, Medcare also became the first healthcare provider globally to administer the newly licensed Itvisma to a four-year-old international SMA patient. SMA is a rare neuromuscular disease that leads to progressive muscle weakness and loss of mobility, impacting movement, breathing, and swallowing. Until now, advancements in gene therapy for SMA were primarily restricted to children under the age o
Perpetual Atomics and QSA Global Fuel the World’s First Americium-Powered Radioisotope Heater Unit Core28.4.2026 16:48:00 EEST | Press release
In a landmark achievement for international space exploration, Perpetual Atomics, QSA Global, Inc. and the University of Leicester have completed the first historical production of an Americium-fuelled Radioisotope Heater Unit (RHU) full scale core containing ceramic form americium-241 pellets in a metal containment structure. This breakthrough builds on the successful americium pelleting work in late 2025 and on two decades of experience in leading the development of americium space nuclear power systems by the Leicester team. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260428027123/en/ QSA Global and Perpetual Atomics Team Born out of ENDURE, a European Space Agency (ESA) project, and part of a transatlantic collaboration, this achievement provides the steppingstones for an industrial pathway to deliver radioisotope power systems for spacecraft enabling these to survive and thrive in the most extreme environments in the
Alipay Launches AI Payment Processing Product to Help Businesses and OPCs Thrive in the Agentic Economy28.4.2026 16:47:00 EEST | Press release
Alipay today launched a new AI payment processing product that enables businesses, large and small, including One Person Companies (OPCs) in the Chinese mainland, to receive payments seamlessly when autonomous AI agents, including OpenClaw-type agents, purchase their services. This new product is being launched as AI agents are increasingly executing tasks on behalf of users, from booking travel and comparing prices, to allocating computing power and buying tokens. The product is available on Alipay’s website (https://aipay.alipay.com/). With Alipay’s AI payment processing product, small and medium-sized businesses do not need to build complex payment or settlement systems. By simply onboarding their monetizable services, businesses can reach more customers and receive payment each time an AI agent purchases their service. Bocha, an AI-powered search tool offering web search support for AI applications including DeepSeek, has already adopted Alipay’s AI payment processing product, tran
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