The Technical Committee of the Tray Circularity Evaluation Platform (TCEP) of PETCORE Europe has officially endorsed the use of Akestra^™ 100 and Akestra^™ 110, products manufactured by leading specialty chemicals innovator Perstorp, for the production of heat-resistant PET trays. Furthermore, the committee has recognized that the use of Akestra 100 and Akestra 110 does not have a negative impact on current European PET recycling streams.

The Tray Circularity Evaluation Platform (TCEP) is a voluntary European industry initiative that provides PET thermoforms design guidelines for recycling, evaluates thermoform packaging solutions and technologies, and facilitates understanding of the effects of new PET thermoforms innovations on the recycling process. The TCEP initiative fully supports the economic and environmental sustainability of the European PET value chain.

Akestra^™ 100 and Akestra^™ 110 are high-performance products that enable customers to enhance recycled PET by adding heat resistance capabilities and also achieve sustainability targets by increasing recycled material content and enabling design for circularity. With this endorsement, Akestra^™ 100 and Akestra^™ 110 are established to allow circular packaging solutions with high post-consumer content (high PCR) and to be recyclable in existing recycling streams for tray-to-tray. Akestra^™ 100 and Akestra^™ 110 are hereby confirmed in Europe as replacements for fossil-based, linear traditional packaging made of polystyrene or polypropylene.

“We are thrilled to receive this endorsement from PETCORE Europe. To help our food value chain partners to design improved circularity in food packaging has been a missing piece in the puzzle. Akestra 100 and Akestra 110 can help to close the material loop in hot-fill applications to enable circular packaging solutions and a massive saving of fossil raw material and CO₂ emissions over time. This is a true example of our long term vision and mission”, says Patrice Pinsard, EVP Strategic Markets & Innovation at Perstorp.

Akestra 100 and Akestra 110 enable

• Design of circular thin-wall food packaging solutions* for hot-fill applications
• Glass-like transparency and heat resistance up to 100°C
• Tunable performance characteristics

*Post-consumer recycling of tray packaging solutions with Akestra 100 and Akestra 110 have been verified at the commercial scale.

For more information about the endorsement:
www.petcore-europe.org/recyclability-evaluation-platforms/technical-opinions.html
www.petcore-europe.org/images/2023/TCEP_endorsement_letter_Akestra.pdf