About this episode

This episode discusses how dairy processors can reduce the cost of recycled plastic through innovative logistics and processing methods.

How dairy processors can close the recycled plastic cost gap with backhauled bottle returns and food-grade HDPE reuse. Recorded live at CeMAT 2027, Shane hosts a panel discussion with Ben McCulloch from Martog & Company, Edward Vaudrey from Popit Recycling, and Taylor Quinn from Procal Dairies who share how a closed-loop model could reduce the cost barrier that keeps food-grade recycled HDPE above virgin polymer. The cover: * Why food-grade recycled HDPE usually costs more than virgin plastic, including smaller plant scale and the added collection, sorting, washing, decontamination, and extrusion steps. * How Procal’s existing crate return network can backhaul empty milk bottles from cafés, restaurants, and other food-service sites without adding new logistics cost. * How Popit’s modular recovery system scans bottles, removes contaminants, flakes material on site, and sends it to Martog for hot washing and food-grade processing. * Why 30 to 50 per cent recycled content is currently the commercial sweet spot for milk bottles, even though the long-term goal is to push costs to parity with virgin resin. * What rollout could look like next, from proving the economics at Prokal to…

People in this episode

Host: Shane Williams

Guests: Ben McCulloch, Edward Vaudrey, Taylor Quinn

Topics covered

• circular packaging
• recycled plastic
• dairy processing
• sustainability
• cost reduction
• closed-loop model

Keywords

• recycled HDPE
• milk bottles
• cost gap
• backhaul
• food-grade processing
• sustainability
• circular economy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Martog & Company, Popit Recycling, Procal Dairies

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