en.Wedoany.com Reported - Aduro Clean Technologies and Mexico's packaging recycling organization ECOCE have entered the next phase of their collaboration in the chemical recycling of post-consumer soft plastic packaging. Both parties have completed the feedstock mapping and screening of Mexico's soft packaging waste stream. Selected material streams will proceed to Hydrochemolytic™ (HCT) technology trials to assess their potential for conversion into liquid hydrocarbon products for downstream plastic circularity.
Launched in December 2025, the collaboration is based on phased evaluations using data from soft plastic packaging collected through ECOCE's recycling system. The first phase leveraged ECOCE's national feedstock mapping program for its member companies, identifying multiple post-consumer soft packaging streams. These were assessed based on estimated availability, collection routes, physical form, contamination characteristics, and pretreatment requirements, resulting in candidate material streams with sufficient volume for industrial-scale evaluation and characteristics suitable for HCT trials.
Soft plastic packaging is one of the most challenging material categories in current recycling systems, potentially including polyethylene, polypropylene, and multilayer packaging, as well as inks, adhesives, mixed structures, small formats, and varying degrees of contamination. For soft packaging streams unsuitable for mechanical or physical recycling, the collaboration aims to evaluate whether HCT technology can recover hydrocarbons and reintegrate them into the plastics value chain. ECOCE data indicates that Mexico produces approximately 1.5 million tons of soft plastic packaging annually. Materials identified in the first phase include polypropylene, polyethylene, and multilayer soft packaging, commonly found in snack and cookie wrappers, shopping bags, bread bags, seed and grain packaging, pet food packaging, deli and dairy packaging, and resealable pouches.
ECOCE works with food and beverage companies representing over 400 brands, giving the collaboration practical industrial relevance. The goal is to generate evidence-based insights into how selected soft packaging streams can fit into a circular value chain—from collection and post-consumer characterization, through feedstock preparation and HCT conversion, to obtaining liquid hydrocarbon products for evaluation by petrochemical and polymer value chain participants.
With the completion of the first phase, the collaboration moves into HCT trials on selected material streams. Aduro will begin with laboratory-scale evaluations, analyzing the treatability, product characteristics, yields, residues, contaminant behavior, and mass balance of selected Mexican soft plastic and multilayer plastic waste under HCT technology. Adrián Velasco, Director of Soft Plastic Packaging at ECOCE, will visit Aduro's facilities to review trial protocols, sample requirements, and pilot-scale development plans. If laboratory results are favorable, consideration will be given to advancing to a third phase involving trials on the Next Generation Process (NGP) pilot unit to support scale-up assessments, customer evaluations, and commercial analysis.
Aduro CEO Ofer Vicus stated that the first phase transformed the collaboration from a market opportunity into a clearly defined feedstock technology program. ECOCE provided practical insights into how soft packaging actually flows through Mexico's recycling system, aiding in the selection of representative material streams. The next phase will generate critical data needed for scale-up and economic assessments, including treatability, product quality, yields, contaminant behavior, and the potential value of HCT process liquids as circular hydrocarbon feedstocks.
Adrián Velasco, Director of Soft Plastic Packaging at ECOCE, emphasized that soft plastic packaging is one of the most significant challenges in Mexico's material management. Through this collaboration, ECOCE helps connect real-world recycling system data with technology evaluation efforts. As the collaboration enters the HCT trial phase, visiting Aduro's facilities will allow direct review of trial protocols, coordination of sample requirements, and better assessment of selected Mexican soft packaging streams for reintegration into the plastics value chain.
The results of the next phase will provide both parties with technical and economic elements to evaluate material suitability, product quality, scale-up requirements, and future commercial options, with the goal of reintroducing hard-to-recycle soft packaging into the plastics value chain.
