In September 2022, Germany based Institute cyclos – HTP GmbH has awarded BOBST the certification of recyclability for the oneBARRIER PrimeCycle AlOx high barrier PE monomaterial packaging substrate with a recyclability level of 98%.

The certification is EU-wide for all the EU countries listed in the certificate that have the infrastructure for recycling PE. The newly certified oneBARRIER PrimeCycle AlOx PE solution is a recycle-ready high barrier transparent AlOx-based full PE mono-material substrate developed to provide a viable industrial solution that delivers a barrier performance equivalent to non-recyclable mixed-materials packaging structures, most notably metallized polyester film.

“We are doubly proud of this achievement, because of the certification of course, but also because 98% is an extremely high recyclability level especially for films in the high barrier segment which always require some additional non-mono material to provide functional barrier enhancement”, commented Nick Copeland, R & D Director Barrier Solutions at BOBST, making reference to CEFLEX guidelines that are >90% for mono-material definition.

The recyclability shown as a percentage represents the proportion of the product's valuable material?that is available after use out of the total mass of the packaging for reuse through high-quality recycling and for monetary value creation.

Institute cyclos – HTP GmbH is a German independent planning and consulting company based in Aachen that specializes in the classification, assessment, and certification of recyclability of packaging and goods. The verification and examination of recyclability is a very thorough 9-criteria testing process leading to the EU-Wide recyclability certification.

oneBARRIER PrimeCycle is part of the oneBARRIER family of new sustainable packaging solutions that BOBST has designed and developed with a dedicated ecosystem of partner, more notably recycle-ready mono-material polyolefin-based packaging substrates.

Other solutions that are part of the oneBARRIER project, including the FibreCycle solutions relating to recycle-ready high barrier paper/fibre-based packaging have already been stepped up from R&D solutions to industrialized solutions, while work is also underway for development of compostable and biodegradable packaging substrates.