Why It Works
Replace up to 50% of virgin plastic in everyday products using recovered eggshell waste - without changing your manufacturing process.
Help your business meet sustainability goals, cut carbon, and stay ahead of regulation, while keeping costs competitive and performance high.
The Science of Composition
The key to understanding the benefit that NESS-GEX provides in terms of regulatory compliance is density. And density is what changes everything about how you think about plastic content.
Density is the mechanism
Most plastics have a density of approximately 0.9. NESS-GEX Bio-Calcium Powder has a density of approximately 2.1 — more than twice as high.This means a smaller volume of NESS-GEX can outweigh a much larger volume of plastic.
For instance, blending 40% NESS-GEX-01E Pellet with 60% LLDPE by volume results in a finished product where total LLDPE — including the LLDPE within the NESS-GEX-01E Pellet itself — represents less than half of total composition by weight.The chart below shows exactly how this plays out.
The NESS-GEX-01E Pellet itself contains 20% LLDPE and 80% bio-calcium. When blended at 40% with 60% LLDPE by volume, the total LLDPE in the finished product — from both the straight LLDPE and the LLDPE within NESS-GEX — comes to approximately 48% by weight. Bio-calcium accounts for the remaining 52%, resulting in a total plastic composition below 50%.
What this means for regulation
An increasingly important factor in how a product or material is classified for regulatory purposes is its composition by weight. The application of composition by weight varies across different markets, a few examples are outlined below.
UK — Plastic Packaging Tax
In the UK, the 50% threshold is binary: cross it, and the material is not classified as plastic for PPT purposes — potentially eliminating the tax liability entirely.
This is not a matter of interpretation. HMRC confirmed the position directly in their correspondence with us:
"PPT aims to incentivise the use of recycled plastic by exempting packaging from the tax when a product contains 30% or more recycled plastic... for the purpose of PPT, composite materials made of polymer and other substances or additives are not classed as plastic if the polymer content is less than 50% of the overall weight of a material. Therefore, if NESS-GEX and any other non-polymer substance make up more than 50% of the composite material by weight, this will not be viewed as plastic and therefore not subject to PPT."
Director of Indirect Tax
HM Revenue & Customs
Spain & Italy
Based on our research, both Spain and Italy apply additional tax to plastic materials and products based on the weight of the plastic content — not the whole product. As such, every percentage point of plastic displaced by NESS-GEX directly reduces the tax liability. There is no binary threshold; the saving scales proportionally with how much plastic is replaced.
Across Europe
The EU's Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive enters into application in 2026, increasing regulatory pressure on manufacturers continent-wide. Material composition by weight is becoming a critical factor — not just for tax, but for how products are classified and reported under sustainability frameworks.
Compatible materials and processes
Polymers
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PP, PE, HDPE, LLDPE
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EVA, PS, ABS
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Rubber, PC & ABS
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Recycled plastics
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Ocean-bound plastics
Manufacturing processes
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Film blowing
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Blow moulding
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Injection moulding
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Thermoforming
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Calendaring
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Extrusion
No machinery changes. No factory redesign. No disruption to production.
Start with your material
Every formulation is different. The right blend ratio, the right grade of NESS-GEX, and the regulatory implications for your specific products are all things we assess together.
Let’s Reduce Plastic - Together
NESS-GEX turns waste eggshells into real-world impact.
If you’re looking for a practical way to reduce plastic, lower carbon, and future-proof your products - we’d love to talk.
Get in touch to start the conversation.