European packaging company Coveris has opened a new ‘ReCover’ recycling facility in Lincolnshire, UK to help recycle printed polyethylene (PE) films.

This facility is located at Coveris’ PE extrusion and conversion site in Louth in the county of Lincolnshire.

It will use a ‘deinking recycling process’ to eliminate ink from the printed film packaging waste.

After removing the ink, this printed film is regranulated into high-quality recycled PE resin, referred to as ReGen.

The ReCover plant, according to Coveris, is capable of producing approximately 5,000 tonnes (t) of ReGen pellets every year.

The ReGen pellets are in adherence to the UK's Plastic Packaging Tax and will first be used to address the need for recycled content within Coveris.

The new plant also features a fully equipped laboratory, called ReCover Lab, which will allow the company to support innovation, quality control and the validation of ReGen recyclate to further use it in the extrusion of Coveris’ recycled content films.

Coveris Films business unit president Martin Davis said: “Sustainability is at the heart of our business and the development and opening of ReCover Louth, our second recycling facility, is a significant step in our No Waste journey.

“Not only are we innovating and building more recycling infrastructure for the plastic packaging sector, but we are also developing longer and more circular lifecycles for our products.

“We are passionate about packaging and the value it brings; I am extremely proud of the Coveris and ReCover Louth teams for our ambitious and pioneering approach to developing and exploring new technologies to create a more sustainable future for packaging.”

This ReCover plant is the second addition to the company’s portfolio under its closed-loop recycling business segment, which was launched in December last year.

Alongside the launch of the ReCover segment, Coveris also acquired a post-consumer waste mechanical recycling facility, which now operates as the first ReCover plant in Blaenavon, Wales, UK.

With the addition of a second recycling plant, the company will now focus more on optimising the recycling of post-industrial and post-consumer PE waste, to ensure plastic circularity.