CADEL RECYCLING LAB S.L.

Their core work

Cadel Recycling Lab is a Spanish SME specializing in plastic recycling processes, particularly delamination and deinking of printed plastic packaging. They develop water-based technologies to recover value from multi-layer plastic waste, enabling circular economy pathways for packaging materials. Their work spans both the technical process side (separating and cleaning plastic layers) and the transition toward more sustainable single-polymer and bio-based packaging alternatives, including pharmaceutical packaging applications.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Cadel started in 2016 with a feasibility study (SME Phase 1) for their core plastic deinking technology, though early keyword data is sparse. By 2019, they had secured significant Phase 2 funding to scale this technology and simultaneously joined the MANDALA consortium, broadening into sustainable packaging design, bio-based materials, and compostability. The trajectory shows a company moving from a single recycling process innovation toward a wider role in the sustainable packaging value chain.

Moving from pure plastic waste processing toward integrated sustainable packaging solutions, including bio-based and compostable materials — relevant for any consortium tackling packaging circularity.

How they like to work

Cadel primarily leads its own projects — two of three H2020 projects were as coordinator, both through the SME Instrument, which indicates a company driving its own innovation agenda. Their participation in MANDALA as a partner in a larger RIA consortium (12 unique partners, 5 countries) shows they can also contribute specialist expertise within bigger teams. Expect a hands-on technical partner who knows how to manage EU projects.

Cadel has collaborated with 12 unique partners across 5 countries, primarily through the MANDALA consortium. Their network is modest but European in scope, built around packaging and materials science.

What sets them apart

Cadel occupies a niche at the intersection of plastic recycling technology and sustainable packaging design — they don't just study recyclability, they build the processes that make it happen. Their water-based delamination and deinking technology addresses a real industrial bottleneck: printed multi-layer plastics are notoriously difficult to recycle. For consortium builders, they bring both process know-how and SME Instrument track record, meaning they've survived EU due diligence on commercial viability twice.

Highlights from their portfolio

• PLASTDEINK
  Their flagship technology project (EUR 1.1M, SME Phase 2) to scale water-based plastic delamination and deinking — the core of their business.
• MANDALA
  Large RIA consortium project on transitioning multilayer packaging to sustainable single-polymer alternatives, showing Cadel's expansion beyond recycling into packaging design.