Dive Brief:
- Nova Chemicals has commissioned its first plant to produce PE from mechanically recycled postconsumer plastic film. Packaging producer Novolex will operate the facility.
- The facility, located in Connersville, Indiana, has opened three of its four lines and plans to be fully operational by the end of the year, according to a news release. Full production is expected by early 2026.
- The facility will be capable of recycling 145,000 bales of plastic film to produce over 100 million pounds of Nova’s Syndigo-branded linear, low-density polyethylene per year. Syndigo is made from 100% post-consumer recycled content and is suitable for food- and non-food-grade packaging applications, the company says.
Dive Insight:
Nova’s film recycling investments come as the recycling industry works to ramp up recovery rates for film and flexible plastics while completing strategic investments meant to more efficiently process and market the material. Nova’s 450,000-square-foot facility, which it says is among the “largest and most sophisticated” plastic film mechanical recycling facilities in the world, is meant to meet recycled content demand from major brands and converters.
Although the plastic film recycling sector in the U.S. still mainly relies on recycled content from postindustrial sources and has limited curbside recycling inputs, speakers at the Plastics Recycling Conference in March noted growth in recent years.
“There continues to be high interest from converters, retailers, and brand owners for recycled polyethylene, and our state-of-the-art facility accelerates our ability to meet this demand,” said Nova CEO Roger Kearns in a statement. “We can leverage the latest technologies to ensure plastic film is recycled and re-used.”
Nova listed manufacturers and distributors that are expected to incorporate the recycled PE into flexible packaging including Charter Next Generation, M.Holland, Osterman & Company, Petoskey Plastics, PolyExpert, Pregis, Sigma Plastics Group and Winpak.
Nova first announced in June 2023 that it would develop this recycling facility with Novolex. In 2024, Nova received a Letter of Non-Objection from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration confirming it could produce post-consumer rLLDPE for food-contact applications. That LNO is the first of its kind for the material, the company said.
GreenBlue has also given the facility its Recycled Material Standard certification, which verifies that recycled polyethylene produced at the facility is 100% postconsumer recycled content.
The recycled and processed rLLDPE pellets, sold as Nova’s Syndigo, are meant for applications such as food packaging for pantries and freezers, as well as other products such as trash can liners, it said.
Nova said its feedstock comes mainly from “back-of-store” polyethylene film collected from major retailers and distribution centers across the U.S. It estimates it will collect an average of 400 bales of plastic film daily, or up to 14,000 bales a month.
During a ribbon-cutting event for the Nova recycling facility on May 22, Indiana Gov. Mike Braun applauded the project, saying it will provide jobs for about 125 people and is a “world-class example of Indiana's leadership in the materials industry.” Nova has previously said the facility is strategically located in the state because the site is about halfway between Indianapolis and Cincinnati and can draw material from other major metropolitan regions.
Demand for recycled content in film plastic comes as other major recycling projects face stumbling blocks. Myplas USA, which opened its 170,000-square-foot facility in 2023 to mechanically recycle and pelletize low-density and high-density PE film, idled after just a few months due to financial challenges. In 2024, GDB Circular took over ownership of the facility in Rogers, Minnesota, and announced numerous investments and upgrades. Those improvements are still underway, but the plant is now making some commercial sales, Plastics News reported.
