AGRILOOP Pilot Case Introduction

Discover the fascinating insights from the AGRILOOP Pilot Case, led by Barbier Group which earned its spot through the FlexFunction2Sustain Open Call. This innovative project is dedicated to enhancing the recyclability of PE/EVOH and PE/PA agricultural films, all while maintaining exceptional gas barrier and mechanical properties. Explore the cutting-edge solutions that are shaping the future of sustainable agriculture by reading their story below:

The BARBIER Group is the leading producer of polyethylene films for agriculture, industry and trade applications. While the majority of films produced for the agriculture market are monomaterials, based on Polyethylene (PE), some applications require complex structures to provide gas barrier properties to the films: for markets such as silage and soil disinfection films, the demand is increasingly moving towards technical films made up of multilayer films therefore combining several polymers: PE/EVOH/PE, PE/PA. These multilayer films, being hardly recyclable, are currently mostly landfilled or burned into energy.

AGRILOOP intends to validate the recyclability and the circularity of PE/EVOH and PE/PA agricultural films while keeping barrier and mechanical properties, using METEOR’s pilot line technology from IPC. The objective is also to validate the replication of the production concept to a two steps process approach where the compounds produced by the METEOR technologies is shipped to an external blown extrusion line, as well as in a tri-layers blown extrusion line with recycled layer in between two layers of virgin PE.

The project will increase circularity of PE/EVOH and PE/PA agricultural films, in line with EU objectives to incorporate 30% of recycled materials in products by 2030 and improve the valorisation of PE/EVOH and PE/PA agricultural films to avoid down cycling, and improve the environmental footprint.

In order to execute this Pilot Case, Barbier Group is using the combined services of FlexFunction2Sustain consortium partner: IPC – Centre Technique Industriel de la Plasturgie et des Composites, Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research IAP, INL –  International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory, Sonnenberg Harrison Partnerschaft.

  • Material preparation and compounding studies
  • Film production (Direct compounding-extrusion & Single layer blown film extrusion)
  • Recyclability evaluation
  • Film characterization
  • Food contact assessment
  • LCA analysis
  • IP analysis

Stay connected! More information about the progress of the AGRILOOP Pilot Case is on the way.

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