Exxon Mobil Corp. and partners from the packaging and retail industry say they’re a step closer to commercializing a sustainable plastic wrapping product for the food industry using advanced recycling technology.
Exxon Mobil, along with Cyclyx International, Sealed Air and Ahold Delhaize USA, have successfully completed the demonstration phase of their project to reuse plastic waste collected from grocery stores, Exxon Mobil said in an April 27 news release.
The partners are using Exxon’s Exxtend technology for advanced recycling, which breaks plastic waste into its molecular building blocks. The companies are now evaluating the process for scale.
Ahold Delhaize USA brand Food Lion supported the initial pilot, collecting plastic waste for recycling at select store locations.
Cyclyx, a joint venture between Agilyx Corporation and Exxon, sorted and preprocessed the waste packaging materials collected from the Food Lion stores, before delivering them to Exxon’s Baytown, Texas, facility.
Creating circular products for food contact plastic packaging in the food industry is challenging due to strict safety and performance requirements. The polymers developed during the process have the characteristics of virgin resins, which is critical for the food industry, says Dan Moore, vice president, polyethylene, Exxon Mobil.
"The technology provides a reliable source to attribute to high-performance, certified-circular polymers,"
Exxon Mobil plans to increase its annual advanced recycling capacity to 500,000 metric tons, or approximately 1 billion pounds, by year-end 2026 across multiple sites globally.
