Magnomer joins US Plastics Pact

Magnomer, a Framingham, Massachusetts-based startup which creates magnetizable coatings for packaging in order to improve separation in existing recycling systems, says it has become the first inks company to join the U.S. Plastics Pact.

The company says joining the Pact brings it together with over 130 other brands, nonprofits, government agencies and research institutions—all stakeholders working together to hit ambitious targets to build a circular economy for plastic packaging within the United States. Magnomer says U.S. Plastics Pact members are referred to as “activators,” and as an activator, Magnomer will be able to bring the perspective of a sustainability-driven inks company to working groups within the Pact and to its long-term vision.

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Magnomer co-founder and CEO Ravish Majithia says, “As the role of inks is increasingly recognized within the recycling system, Magnomer is excited to bring our perspective and our technology to the conversation—that inks, when used innovatively, can be a key tool for improving the sortation of packaging in recycling operations.”

A goal of the U.S. Plastics Pact is to bring stakeholders together to work through complex challenges that are part of building a circular economy for packaging, according to the organization. Emily Tipaldo, the U.S. Plastics Pact’s executive director, says, “We are excited to add Magnomer to our growing group of activators. Magnomer adds an important link to the U.S. Pact’s supply chain representation, as well as an example of innovation that can ensure more plastic packaging stays in the economy.”

Magnomer’s patented magnetizable coating technology, called Magmark, is designed to impart sortability features for recyclable packaging. The company says its Magmark coatings are food-safe and print as a transparent varnish to impart magnetization on flexible films such as bottle labels without affecting branding. Magnetization complements widely used magnetic separators in plastics recycling operations and allows for the separation of shrink labels from bottles without changes to the system.

The company adds this magnetization is critical since labels can otherwise present both contamination and equipment-clogging challenges in the recycling process.