Sustainability

A coordinated effort involving the entire value chain is required to fix the system to create a circular economy for flexible plastic packaging.

The flexible packaging industry has long been at the forefront of addressing the challenges of sustainable development. In particular flexible packaging is mainly composed of plastics which are often highlighted as “problematic”. So, there is a need to convince and reassure stakeholders about the key sustainability role flexible packaging already plays in Europe and how this will continue to develop and improve in the future.

The package contains plastic material recovered using advanced recycling technology from Berry’s partnership with SABIC

The Polypropylene Recycling Coalition, an initiative of The Recycling Partnership, is a targeted industry collaboration to improve the U.S. polypropylene recycling infrastructure.

Avient (formerly PolyOne) introduces ColorMatrix™ AAzure™ Acetaldehyde Control Additive. The new grade is a process aid for PET and recycled PET (rPET) preforms with added acetaldehyde (AA) control capabilities. It is a patented liquid formulation that can reduce AA by up to 80 percent in the preform and helps to counter off-taste in bottled contents.

When packages come and go, label choice matters. A truly closed loop solution is here with new and improved UPM Raflatac RW85C wash-off label materials for PET containers, now available in the Americas market. Part of the UPM Raflatac SmartCircle™ sustainable product range, products with RW85C adhesive offer best in class wash-off technology.

UPM Raflatac is partnering with Vellamo, Finland’s award-winning natural mineral water for a truly innovative sustainable label. Vellamo’s bottles feature UPM Raflatac Forest Film PPTM, the world’s first and only wood-based polypropylene plastic label material. This transparent label material is constructed from UPM BioVerno naphtha, a 100 percent wood-based solution made from tall oil, a residue of pulp production, originating from sustainably managed forests.

Neste and Jokey, a leading international manufacturer of rigid plastic packaging, have started collaborating with a target to develop the market for rigid packaging from sustainable renewable and recycled materials for food and non-food applications.