Plastic plays an essential role in food packaging, thanks to its protective and preservation properties and ease of processing. However, a significant proportion of packaging waste remains difficult to recycle, particularly multilayer materials, blends of different polymers, and packaging contaminated with food residues. UPCYCLE was created to provide a new solution for this waste by transforming it into raw materials for the manufacture of new packaging materials.

The UPCYCLE project will develop and demonstrate new circular value chains capable of transforming mixed plastic waste that currently cannot be efficiently recycled into new biodegradable and recyclable materials for packaging applications. To achieve this, the project will scale up an innovative plastic biorefinery concept to a pre-industrial level, combining chemical and enzymatic depolymerisation technologies with biotechnological processes to recover and transform the components of plastic waste into new high-value chemical building blocks and polymers.

UPCYCLE is coordinated by Aalborg University and brings together 19 European partners from the fields of research, biotechnology, polymer production and processing, packaging, and the end-user sector. The project began in September 2025 and will run for 48 months, until August 2029.

EROSKI is participating in UPCYCLE as an end user in the food retail sector, contributing insights into market, retail and consumer needs to guide the development and future commercialisation of the solutions.

The project will focus on three use cases involving packaging used by EROSKI: flexible packaging for fresh vegetables, packaging for cold meats and cheese, and bottles for drinks such as kefir. For these use cases, more recyclable, compostable or bio-based alternatives will be developed, reducing the use of multilayer structures and increasing the proportion of renewable or recycled raw materials.

For more information: https://upcycle-plastics.eu/