Thermoformed Plastic Packaging Goes Green with Neste and ILLIG’s Strategic Partnership

Photo: Jürgen Lochner, CSO/CTO at ILLIG and Mercedes Alonso, Executive Vice President Renewable Polymers and Chemicals at Neste. Source: Neste

(IN BRIEF) Neste and ILLIG have formed a strategic partnership to develop sustainable solutions for the production of thermoformed plastic packaging through demonstration cases. The partnership will combine Neste’s expertise in providing renewable and recycled materials for polymers production with ILLIG’s expertise in manufacturing thermoforming systems to create practical showcases. These showcases aim to verify the drop-in nature of renewable and recycled materials for demanding applications, by recreating value chains on a small scale for demonstration purposes. The companies will conduct similar demonstration case studies to promote the usage of renewable feedstock, such as Neste RE, especially in demanding applications like packaging suited for food contact or technical applications such as consumer electronics. Additional partners will be invited to join individual cases to recreate entire value chains, and the processes, facilities, and machinery used will be closely monitored and analyzed to provide new insights into the quality and property of products and the performance of value chain infrastructure.

(PRESS RELEASE) ESPOO, 28-Feb-2023 — /EuropaWire/ —  Neste (HEL: NESTE), the world’s leading producer of sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel, and renewable feedstock solutions for various polymers and chemicals industry uses, and ILLIG, the leading manufacturer of thermoforming systems, have announced a strategic partnership to promote the use of sustainable solutions in the production of thermoformed plastic packaging. Together, the companies aim to create practical showcases to verify the drop-in nature of renewable and recycled materials for demanding applications and demonstrate that plastics made from more sustainable raw materials can be further processed within existing infrastructure.

The partnership will bring together Neste’s expertise in providing renewable and recycled materials for polymers production and ILLIG’s expertise in manufacturing thermoforming systems to create demonstration cases for small-scale value chains. The showcases will include additional partners and demonstrate that products made from more sustainable raw materials meet regulatory requirements and have properties that are equivalent to those made from fossil resources.

In spring 2022, Neste, ILLIG, LyondellBasell, and Fernholz successfully completed a feasibility study to turn renewable Neste RE™ feedstock into polypropylene with measurable C14 bio-based content. The study demonstrated that further processing steps along the value chain, including cracking, polymerization, sheet extrusion, and thermoforming, could be performed without any deviations from processing fossil raw materials. The four companies presented their joint project at K 2022 in Düsseldorf with a live demonstration of thermoforming.

Under the new cooperation agreement, Neste and ILLIG plan to conduct similar demonstration case studies to promote the usage of renewable feedstock like Neste RE, especially in demanding applications such as packaging for food contact or technical applications such as consumer electronics. The studies could explore the manufacturing of packaging with varying measurable C14 bio-based content, as well as packaging produced with recycled raw materials using Neste’s capabilities in chemical recycling to create circular plastics value chains.

Throughout the studies, Neste and ILLIG will closely monitor and analyze the processes, facilities, and machinery used to provide new insights into product quality, property, and value chain infrastructure performance.

“Renewable and recycled raw materials for polymers such as Neste RE are already being used today to reduce the sector’s reliance on fossil resources. It’s now a question of scaling up their share to make a bigger positive sustainability impact,” says Jeroen Verhoeven, Vice President Value Chain Development at Neste’s Renewable Polymers and Chemicals business unit. “Together with ILLIG, we can verify the drop-in nature of our solutions and the shift to more sustainable raw materials in the production processes in very practical demonstration cases, which can serve as blueprints for large-scale and real value chains. Our goal is to demonstrate what’s possible already today to promote these solutions in the industry. By demonstrating the feasibility of renewable and recycled materials along value chains in demonstration cases, we can foster their acceptance on a larger scale.”

“We work together with our partners, customers and their customers in our Techn Center on a daily basis to work towards renewable and circular solutions,” says Sven Engelmann, Director of ILLIG Technology Center and Packaging Development. “The partnership with Neste is a major driver in achieving that goal.”

Further information: 

Neste: Please contact Neste’s media service, tel. +358 800 94025 / media@neste.com (weekdays from 8.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. EET). Please subscribe to Neste’s releases at https://www.neste.com/for-media/releases-and-news/subscribe.

ILLIG: Please contact Press and Public Relations, tel. +49 7131 505-784 / Media@illig.com

Neste in brief

Neste (NESTE, Nasdaq Helsinki) creates solutions for combating climate change and accelerating a shift to a circular economy. We refine waste, residues and innovative raw materials into renewable fuels and sustainable feedstock for plastics and other materials. We are the world’s leading producer of sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel and developing chemical recycling to combat the plastic waste challenge. We aim at helping customers to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions with our renewable and circular solutions by at least 20 million tons annually by 2030. Our ambition is to make the Porvoo oil refinery in Finland the most sustainable refinery in Europe by 2030. We are introducing renewable and recycled raw materials such as liquefied waste plastic as refinery raw materials. We have committed to reaching carbon-neutral production by 2035, and we will reduce the carbon emission intensity of sold products by 50% by 2040. We also have set high standards for biodiversity, human rights and supply chain. We have consistently been included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices and the Global 100 list of the world’s most sustainable companies. In 2022, Neste’s revenue stood at EUR 25.7 billion. Read more: neste.com

ILLIG in brief

ILLIG is a leading global supplier of thermoforming and packaging systems as well as tool systems for cardboard, paper and plastics. The company’s product and services portfolio includes the development, design, manufacture, installation and commissioning of complex production lines and components. With its unique approach to packaging development, “Pactivity® 360”, ILLIG supplies its customers with resource-friendly and sustainable solutions. With its subsidiaries and sales agencies, ILLIG is active in all markets around the world. For more than 75 years, the family business has been serving its customers as a reliable partner for the cost-effective manufacturing of complex precision packaging and parts with innovative technology of unsurpassed quality and comprehensive global service.

SOURCE: Neste Corporation