June 19, 2026 11:41

Interzero’s new plant in Dessau, Germany, is dedicated to the mechanical recycling of post-consumer polypropylene (mrPP) for reuse in food and cosmetics packaging.

The European Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) requires companies to use recycled raw materials in packaging from 2030. However, the market currently lacks sufficient volumes of recyclates suitable for contact-sensitive applications such as food and cosmetics.

This prompted the decision to invest in research and development of a process for the mechanical recycling of polyolefins.

Over more than five years, the engineering team led by Thomas Herkert worked to develop a process for sorting and recycling the polypropylene recyclable material stream (PP) from Germany’s lightweight packaging collection system (“Gelber Sack”).