INEOS Olefins & Polymers recently announced a partnership with Forever Plast SpA, a leading polymer recycling technologies operator in Italy. Together, they have developed a range of new polyethylene grades that mirror INEOS virgin grades and perfectly fit injection moulding and compression moulding machines.

The new Recycl-IN products take post-consumer recyclate from used bottle caps and carefully blend them with highly engineered virgin polymer to create new, high-quality caps.

Over the next five years, 6.5 billion bottle caps will be diverted from the waste stream to be recycled.

As part of its ongoing drive to support a more circular economy and significantly increase plastics recycling, INEOS is expanding its range of Recycl-IN polymers into the polyethylene non-food caps market. 

"For a while, PET [polyethylene terephthalate] bottles have been increasingly recycled, but this is one of the first circular developments to tackle the caps. This is a major step forward," said Iain Hogan, CEO of INEOS Olefins and Polymers, in a statement. "We are creating a truly circular approach to ensure used bottle caps are recycled and returned to the market as new, highly engineered, high-quality caps, rather than being thrown away or wasted."

This development is part of INEOS' ongoing research and development program to move to a more circular approach to plastic production to support customers globally.

"We are not just waiting for things to happen; we are making things happen," said Hogan. "Recycling 6.5 billion caps from bottles is an incredible achievement. We are providing real commercial solutions today for our customers, moving to a more circular approach to plastics, giving waste plastic a value and preventing it from ending up in the environment. Our people are passionate about tackling this issue."