PureCycle Technologies, Inc. has announced the successful production and trial evaluation of white, cavitated biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) film in collaboration with Innovia Films, a global manufacturer of packaging, graphics, and label films. The film was produced using PureCycle's PureFive Choice resin and the film contains more than 40% post-consumer recycled (PCR) content. This film will be marketed to brand owners interested in introducing recycled content to their own white, cavitated BOPP applications.

White, cavitated BOPP film is reportedly a critical material in some of the world's most recognizable consumer packaging formats. Its unique opacity, light weight, and printability make it a suitable material for many food-contact applications, including candy wrappers, ice cream novelty wrappers, snack packaging and roll-fed labeling, the company says. The film's cavitated structure delivers a paper-like feel and ideal print surface while maintaining the mechanical performance and moisture barrier essential for food-contact applications, it adds. The successful production of this film type using PureFive resin marks a significant commercial expansion of what is possible with post-consumer recycled polypropylene in demanding flexible packaging applications, PureCycle adds.

The achievement comes at a pivotal moment for the global packaging industry. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation is reshaping procurement decisions for flexible packaging converters and brand owners worldwide. In the U.S., California's SB 54 mandates a virgin plastic reduction, with compliance timelines that are already driving reformulation activity across the supply chain. In Europe, the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) similarly expands mandatory recycled content targets for plastic packaging beginning in 2030, with particular urgency for film and flexible formats that have historically lacked sufficient and viable PCR supply. As one of the few commercially available sources of food-contact-compliant, recycled polypropylene, PureCycle's PureFive resin is positioned to help converters and brand owners meet these regulatory requirements without sacrificing performance or processability, the company notes.

“This film produced with PureFive resin represents a major milestone and shift in the sustainability of flexible packaging,” says Innovia Films Market Manager Chris Freshwater. “Our research and development specialists are always looking to improve the sustainability of our products. PureCycle’s dissolution recycling technology is a real gamechanger. Not only are we introducing post-consumer recycled content to our films, but we’re doing so with an energy-saving recycling technology.”

Beyond regulatory compliance, demand for PCR-content flexible packaging is being driven by major consumer goods companies’ voluntary commitment to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's New Plastics Economy Global Commitment. Hundreds of brand owners have pledged to incorporate recycled content, eliminate unnecessary plastics, and advance circularity across their packaging portfolios. White, cavitated BOPP film, which is used extensively in confectionery and snack formats by global food brands, has remained one of the more challenging areas in which to incorporate meaningful recycled content, PureCycle mentions. The success of this collaboration directly addresses that gap, providing brand owners with a credible, commercially scalable path toward meeting their Ellen MacArthur Foundation pledges in this packaging format, the company adds.

“The successful production of white, cavitated BOPP film is a major step forward for PureCycle and for the flexible packaging industry. This film can be found all over your grocery store, whether it’s in the candy aisle, an ice cream freezer or on snack shelves,” says Pete Dias, PureCycle senior director of market, product, and application development. “Brand owners have been searching for a way to incorporate certified recycled content without compromising performance or appearance. By working with Innovia, we have demonstrated that our PureFive resin for film is up to that challenge and strengthens our conviction that PureCycle can serve as a foundational PCR supplier for the global flexible packaging market.”

Innovia conducted comprehensive process evaluations throughout the trial, assessing resin behavior across the full cavitated BOPP production sequence. During the trial process, the PureFive Choice resin reportedly yielded comparable processing results to the virgin polypropylene resins used in commercial films today. Testing showed that the films made using varying percentages of PureFive Choice resin delivered comparable mechanical, barrier, and sealing properties to films made with virgin PP resin, which are crucial for maintaining product integrity and packaging line performance, the company says.

The PureFive Choice resin grade used by Innovia is a specially formulated one-pellet solution engineered for film applications. PureCycle's PureFive Choice portfolio is designed to enable converters to incorporate post-consumer recycled polypropylene with the process certainty and application performance typically associated with virgin resin, PureCycle says. All PureFive resin is produced through PureCycle's patented dissolution recycling process, which aims to remove color, odor, and contaminants from post-consumer polypropylene to yield a recycled resin suitable for the widest range of end uses.

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