A chemically recycled polyamide from BASF is to be used in packaging for food products from Stepac.

 

To extend the shelf life of fresh produce, Stepac says it has developed modified atmosphere and humidity packaging based on MAP technology that will also use chemically recycled plastics from BASF's ChemCycling project for packaging fresh, perishable food. Stepac plans to market the product under the names of its two brands, "X-go" and "X-tend." If the chemically recycled plastic is used in "Xtend" packaging, the brand will be called "Xtend Circular." When used in "Xgo" retail packaging, it is to be called "Xgo Circular." A Colombian exporter of passion fruit will reportedly be the first customer to use the new "Xgo Circular" packaging brand. Gary Ward, Stepac's business development manager, explains, "The improved packaging formats will help significantly reduce food waste." Dr. Dominik Winter, vice president of BASF's European polyamide business, adds, "In a thermochemical process, our partners extract recycling raw materials from end-of-life plastics, which are then fed into the BASF Verbund. Using a mass balance approach, the raw material can be allocated to specific products such as Ultramid Ccycled. This helps to replace fossil raw materials and is an important step towards a "circular economy". Since chemically recycled plastics are equivalent to virgin materials in terms of quality and safety, the range of sustainable plastics that can be used for packaging fresh produce is expanding, he said.

 

Sources:

• plastverarbeiter.de (March 14, 2023)
• Photo: © BASF