SPG has directed its efforts towards delivering solutions that meet the latest eco-design requirements, by creating three Sustainable Product Lines that comply with European directives and optimise both their sustainability and efficiency.
SPG Told SPN: In recent years, awareness over the importance of recycling packaging has grown dramatically around the world, and the UK has been no exception. Driven by increasing concerns over the environmental toll of plastic waste, the food packaging industry's search for more sustainable practices in line with current and future recycling trends has not been short of its challenges.
Awareness over recycling packaging has significantly increased in the last decade. Consumers are more conscious of the environmental impact of plastic waste, especially single-use packaging. Statistics published by Recycle Now, the UK government-funded national recycling campaign, show that more than 90% of the UK population ‘regularly recycle’ or ‘occasionally recycle’.
Overcoming major challenges
Plastic collection and sorting still pose a major challenge in Europe though. In the UK there are a number of recycling trends. Selective waste collection is the most common system, where consumers place packaging in specific containers to be recycled later. However, a poor infrastructure means that not all recycling systems can properly process flexible packaging.
To address this issue, some Supermarkets and shops, such as Tesco, have launched specific collection and recycling campaigns for flexible packaging. These campaigns make it easier to properly collect and recycle this type of packaging, improving the material recovery rate and reducing the environmental impact.
When it comes to flexible packaging, the tendency is towards recycling streams of post-consumer plastic packaging made from PE and PP polyolefins.
SPG has therefore turned its efforts towards delivering solutions that meet eco-design requirements.
We have created three SUSTAINABLE product lines that comply with European directives:
- ECO Line – Mono-materials for improved recyclability. By constructing our products from fewer polymer types we ensure they are fully recyclable, PE and PP-based structures.
- RECYCLED Line – Supporting the circular economy. We use materials with a high percentage of PCR content.
- CO2 Line - Reducing our carbon footprint and more. By creating innovative solutions to ensure the optimum thickness of structures we make them more eco-efficient and keep greenhouse gas emissions to a minimum.
Here are just a few of the products in these lines:
RSE RCY and RFA RCY are coextruded polyamide and polyethylene films which can be recycled in PE streams and have been certified by the Cyclos-HTP institute.
PP HB ECOTOP is a material for lids that is compatible with rigid thermoformed polypropylene trays. It is a recyclable mono-material solution.
SOL range products feature a significantly REDUCED THICKNESS, between 30% and 40% less than other alternatives. SOL EFFICIENT, with a thickness of up to 25μ., is the most efficient, offers a high barrier and welds directly onto RPET polyester (recycle ready + 100% PCR content). Like the other products in this range, it also leads to significant cost savings. It can be laminated with PET 12, OPP 40, paper and others.
PE ECO is a mono-PE-based complex, which is recyclable, transparent and can withstand heat treatments such as hot-fill, microwaving and pasteurisation processes. It can also be made with high-barrier properties.
For more information visit: https://www.spg-pack.com/en/