MATERIALS AND APPLICATIONS
The Alta Scuola Politecnica, run jointly by Politecnico di Milano and Politecnico di Torino, is once again joining forces with Greenchemicals on a research project focusing on recycling. The aim is to convert the PE-Al fraction of Tetra Pak ® into aluminium hydroxide.
Students from the ASP project with Polichem laboratory staff and
Micaela Lorenzi( centre)
RECYCLING THE PE-AL FRACTION OF MULTI-LAYER PACKAGING
Italian technology plast / June-July 2026
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The Alta Scuola Politecnica( ASP) is a prestigious player in the Italian higher education landscape. Open to talented students from the Polytechnic University of Milan and the Polytechnic University of Turin, it is a two-year diploma programme that they can take alongside their Masters’ degree courses. One of the fundamental pillars of the ASP educational experience is participation in multidisciplinary innovation and development projects in partnership with enterprises – as well as research centres and public administrations – under the scientific guidance of faculty from both universities. It is in this context that the second collaboration between ASP and Greenchemicals was born: following the success of the Oracle project in 2024, dedicated to food-grade XPS recycling, it is now the turn of the Reinholds project, where the two entities are involved in the recycling of Tetra Pak ® packaging materials. Work began in May 2025, during the Greenplast exhibition in Milan, where the kick-off meeting between Greenchemicals, the students and potential project stakeholders was held.
REINHOLDS: WHEN PACKAGING BECOMES OPPORTUNITY To understand the Reinholds project( REcycle INnovative of Tetrapak ® for HalOgen-free flame-retarDant), we need to start with the basics and analyse the nature of Tetra Pak ®, one of the most widely used packaging types in the food and beverage industry. Its multilayer structure is composed of paper, low-density polyethylene( LDPE) and aluminium ensuring long shelf life, light weight and protection for perishable products. The recycling process involves two main phases: the separation of the cellulose fibres, which are reused in the production of new paper, and the management of the polyAl residue – i. e. the mixture of LDPE and aluminium that is more difficult to reuse because of aluminium affecting the properties of the plastic component( LDPE). And it is precisely this residue that the Reinholds project focuses on, with the aim of studying the possibility of extruding the LDPE + polyAl residue in order to completely convert the polyAl into aluminium hydroxide to be used as a halogen-free flame re-
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