From waste to packaging, thanks to chemical recycling
An innovative pilot project is currently underway in the Netherlands that marks a significant turning point in the medical and hospital packaging landscape. This initiative demonstrates how hospital plastic waste uncontaminated, normally destined for incineration, can instead be valorised and transformed into new packaging materials through advanced chemical recycling.
This project represents an exemplary case of circular economy applied to the healthcare sector, and opens the way to new perspectives in the field of flexible medical packagingA particularly relevant topic for Teamplast Srl, which has been active for years in the production of LDPE and HDPE films and bags for the biomedical sector.
Collaboration between the chemical, healthcare and packaging industries
The project was born from the collaboration between Sabic, a giant in the chemical industry, and the Zuyderland Medical Center, one of the leading healthcare facilities in the Netherlands. The initiative is also supported by specialized logistics operators and brands active in the healthcare and medical packaging sector, who share a common vision: to close the loop on medical plastics in a responsible and sustainable way.
The process involves the uncontaminated plastic waste are collected separately at the source, i.e. in hospitals and health centers. Once collected, the materials are transported by qualified operators at the Sabic plants, where they are converted into pyrolysis oilThis oil represents a secondary raw material, a alternative feedstock, which Sabic uses to produce a TruCircle certified circular polyethylene.
The TruCircle PE It has qualitative characteristics comparable to those of virgin polyethylene, but with a significantly lower environmental footprint, thanks to the use of recycled plastic.
Concrete results: medical packaging made from recycled plastic
The project has already produced tangible results along the entire supply chain. The circular polyethylene generated by Sabic has been used to make:
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Packaging for surgical guidewires with a content of 25% of plastic attributed to hospital waste recycling;
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Surgical drapes included in ProcedurePak® medical kits, with up to 49% of plastic from chemical recycling.
These results were also made possible by the collaboration with Coveris, a European specialist in healthcare packaging, which helped close the loop by designing flexible packaging solutions in line with the hygiene, health and traceability requirements required by the market.
Further information:
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Sabic Press Release – SABIC & Zuyderland collaborate to drive circularity for hospital plastic waste
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News Coveris – Coveris teams up with SABIC for fully closing the loop in medical packaging
An important signal for the future of medical packaging
For companies like Teamplast, operating in the sector of flexible PE packaging for healthcare use, this project is an important signal. It demonstrates that, even in highly critical areas such ashealthcare, it is possible concretely apply the principles of circularity through technologies of chemical recycling advanced.
The opportunity is twofold: on the one hand, responding to the new regulatory and environmental challenges that Europe is promoting with initiatives such as the PPWR 2025; on the other, design innovative, sustainable and technically performing packaging, suitable for contact with medical devices and sensitive reagents.
Teamplast looks with interest at these experiences and hopes that they will also be promoted in Italy. public-private collaborations similar, with the aim of reducing the environmental impact of medical packaging without compromising its functionality.
Conclusion: a new frontier for recycled plastics in the medical sector
Chemical recycling represents a new frontier for the recovery of medical plastic, and the Dutch project demonstrates that change is possible — when businesses, healthcare facilities and the chemical industry work together in synergy.
For Teamplast, always attentive to innovation, traceability and sustainability, these are good newsOur commitment is to continue to offer flexible packaging high quality, customized and made with safe and recyclable raw materials, thus helping to build a more responsible ecosystem along the entire healthcare supply chain.
📩 Want more information about our packaging for the biomedical sector?
Contact us today: info@teamplast-srl.it
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