Nestlé, Arcus, Interzero, and thirteen other leading companies are joining forces in a landmark project to turn household plastic waste into new packaging - including food packaging - as Europe tightens requirements for recyclability and recycled content.
Every year, vast quantities of flexible plastic packaging — coffee bags, meat packaging films, crisp packets and confectionery wrappers — are incinerated or downcycled into lower-value products rather than recycled into new packaging. Today, less than 15 percent of this packaging type is recycled, despite accounting for nearly half of all plastic packaging placed on the European market. InFACT aims to change that.
A complete value chain from bin to shelf
InFACT brings together 16 international partners covering the entire value chain: collection, sorting, recycling, packaging production, and food companies. The project is led by Danish Technological Institute and runs from 2026 to 2028, and is funded by Innovation Fund Denmark through the TRACE programme.
"We have brought together partners covering the entire chain from household waste bins to supermarket shelves. That is essential if we are to build a circular infrastructure that works technologically, environmentally and economically," says Per Sigaard Christensen, Business Manager at Danish Technological Institute.
A technical challenge meets political reality
Modern flexible food packaging is technically advanced - typically built from multiple polymer layers, barrier films, printing inks, adhesives and, in some cases, metallised surfaces. This makes the material almost impossible to recycle through conventional mechanical remelting. InFACT combines several complementary recycling technologies to crack that challenge.
In addition, key barriers have been a fragmented value chain and the lack of viable business models. InFACT is designed to address this by connecting technologies, documentation and market demand across the full packaging chain.
The project launches at a pivotal moment. The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), which entered into force in February 2025, tightens requirements for recyclable packaging and documented recycled content by 2030. InFACT is designed to help industry translate these requirements into practical circular infrastructure.
"If we can establish a commercially viable infrastructure for flexible plastic packaging, we can both support the implementation of EU requirements and strengthen the resilience of European industry. InFACT can help reduce Europe's dependence on imported fossil oil and build a more self-sufficient circular plastics economy," adds Per Sigaard Christensen.
Business-critical for the food industry
"For a food company, packaging is business-critical. It must protect products, meet high food safety standards, and, at the same time, be documented as part of a more circular economy. No single company can create these solutions alone. That is why InFACT matters: the project brings the full value chain together to develop the infrastructure the food industry will need," says Birgitte Krenk, Nordic Head of Operations at Nestlé.
FACTS ABOUT InFACT
- InFACT stands for Infrastructure for the Flexible plastic pAckaging Circular Transition
- Project period: 2026–2028
- Total budget: EUR 3.2 million
- Funded by Innovation Fund Denmark via the TRACE program, a mission-driven research and innovation partnership focused on circular economy for plastics and textiles.
- Goal: Demonstrate circular infrastructure in which flexible plastic packaging is converted into new packaging
- Partners: Nestlé Danmark A/S, BKI foods A/S, Hilton Foods Denmark A/S, Cloetta AB, City of Copenhagen, Interzero GmbH, TotalEnergies, Fraunhofer IVV, ARCUS Greencycling Technologies, Re:Lab AB, Topsoe, Coveris GmbH, Dapofa A/S, University of Southern Denmark, VANA and Danish Technological Institute
- PPWR: Regulation (EU) 2025/40, entered into force 11 February 2025