Yes, Luminy® PLA is fully recyclable through both mechanical and advanced recycling (depolymerization) methods.
We actively work with customers to create closed-loop systems, collecting and recycling PLA products from events, hotels, sports competitions, and post-industrial waste streams. Recycled Luminy® PLA grades (rPLA) are also available with 20%, 30%, and 100% allocated recycled content.
Thanks to progressions in Near Infrared (NIR) technology, density separation, AI, and robotics systems in waste management, PLA can be easily separated from other types of polymers on the sorting line, including, among others, PET, PS, and HDPE. Purities of 97% have been obtained using NIR sorting of PLA, higher than most traditional plastics.*
*Technical quality of rPET. Technical quality of rPET that can be obtained from Dutch PET bottles that have been collected, sorted, and mechanically recycled, Wageningen University & Research (2016) https://edepot.wur.nl/392306