Nextek and Coveris Take Top Recycling Honour at UK Packaging Awards for COtooCLEAN

COtooCLEAN has been named Packaging Recycling Project of the Year at the UK Packaging Awards 2026.

The award recognises the CO₂-based purification technology developed by Nextek and its progression to industrial-scale food-grade recycling of polyolefin films through a partnership with packaging company, Coveris. The project addresses a major challenge in plastics recycling: removing contaminants from post-consumer flexible packaging so that the recovered plastic can be recycled and used again in food-contact applications.

COtooCLEAN uses supercritical CO₂ purification technology to remove embedded contaminants from post-consumer polyolefin films. Through the collaboration between Nextek and Coveris, the technology is being successfully demonstrated at industrial scale for flexible plastic packaging applications. Designed to produce high-quality recycled material suitable for food-contact packaging, subject to regulatory approval, it supports greater circularity for flexible plastics.

A fully operational demonstration plant, located at Coveris' manufacturing site in Louth, Lincolnshire, is generating the operational data required to support regulatory approvals while demonstrating the technology's scalability and commercial potential for flexible packaging applications. With funding support from the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, the facility builds on Coveris' existing recycling capabilities and represents an important step towards increasing the availability of food-grade recycled content for flexible packaging.

The award recognises the successful collaboration between Nextek and Coveris in advancing food-grade recycling for post-consumer flexible plastics, combining Nextek's innovative purification technology with Coveris' expertise in recycling and packaging to accelerate the transition towards a more circular economy.

Celebrating excellence, innovation and leadership across the packaging value chain, the UK Packaging Awards took place on Wednesday 7th October in London.