Speaking on the launch of the report, Elopak’s Sustainability Director Marianne Groven stated, “To be sustainable in business is not only possible, it is highly necessary. Maintaining healthy growth without exploiting natural or human resources is essential.” Sustainability is at the heart of Elopak’s mission to provide consumers with a natural and convenient alternative to plastic bottles that fit within a low carbon circular economy. The company has previously recorded a number of key environmental milestones including the reduction of its emissions by 70 per cent between 2008 and 2018 and the attainment of carbon neutrality in 2016. In the introduction to the report CEO Thomas Körmendi sets out the context for Elopak’s ever-strengthening focus on sustainability stating, “2019 was a year of many global challenges. We saw teenagers on strike for climate change. We saw the Amazon on fire. We saw hurricanes and flooding, and terrorist attacks. We saw politicians struggling to agree on how to tackle the global challenges ahead. Lately we have also seen how the whole world can rapidly change and adjust to forces greater than ourselves.” “We recognize our part in the global struggle to preserve the planet for future generations,” Körmendi continues. “In 2019, Elopak strengthened the focus on sustainability, thoroughly embedding sustainability as part of our overall business strategy. A set of goals and strategic initiatives were anchored in the Board of Directors and several projects have been initiated in various business units. Elopak was one out of 87 companies, and the first packaging company, to lead the way towards a 1.5°C future at the UN Climate Action Summit,” he explains. As one of the first companies to have signed up to the Science Based Targets initiative commitment to keep the rise in global average temperature below 1.5°C, Elopak continues to push itself towards new sustainability goals. These include a 55 per cent reduction of internal GHG emissions by 2030, and a 16 per cent reduction in emissions across the value chain by 2030 from a 2017 baseline, as approved by the Science Based Targets initiative. Other targets include a 70 per cent recycling rate in the EU and Canada by 2025, a sustainability evaluation of key suppliers by 2022, and 100 per cent certified forestry in Elopak cartons. Innovation is set to play a key role in helping Elopak meet its ambitious targets going forward, with the company increasing R&D spending by 25 per cent between 2017 and 2019. Recent innovation efforts contributed to the launch of Elopak’s most environmentally friendly carton to date – the Pure-Pak® Imagine. Launched in 2020, the carton is a modern version of the company’s original Pure-Pak® carton, containing 46 per cent less plastic and designed with a new easy open feature. It has no plastic screw cap and is 100 per cent forest-based made with Natural Brown Board.

For Enval, the ultimate aim of the project is to see our first recycling plants in the United States. These plants will be capable of recycling previously unrecyclable plastic packaging using our unique proprietary pyrolysis technology for treating low-density packaging waste. As you may know, Enval’s process has dual objectives:  it transforms plastics into oil feedstock to produce new plastic, effectively closing the loop on packaging recycling and therefore it enables previously unrecyclable packaging to become valuable and environmentally responsible. Furthermore, it is the only technology in the world capable of recycling plastic aluminium laminates by splitting them into high-value oil and aluminium with a low-carbon footprint.

The first phase of the project will involve Enval assessing the current disposal solutions for materials used by Sonoco and Kraft Heinz during the production and use respectively of flexible plastic packaging. At the end of the first phase, we will produce, with input from the other partners, a feasibility study which will include potential locations for future recycling plants in a way in which the financial and environmental costs associated with transporting the packaging to the recycling plants is minimised. This approach is possible because the Enval technology was conceived in a modular way which ensures that economic viability of the process starts at a “small” scale.

Enval will then continue the project by building these plants, which could initially target the treatment of scrap generated by Sonoco and Kraft Heinz, but with the idea of incorporating post-consumer waste in the future. 

Dr Carlos Ludlow-Palafox, CEO of Enval, commented:

    “We’re thrilled to be working with two groups as important in the consumer packaged goods and packaging communities as Kraft Heinz and Sonoco. We’re convinced that it is only via these types of collaborations, which involve players at different stages of the supply chain, that new technologies such as ours can be deployed quicker. We must quickly establish new and better infrastructure to succeed in reducing plastic pollution and decreasing carbon emissions.”

Linda Roman, Head of Packaging Growth & Technology at Kraft Heinz, said:

    “We see a high-demand for recyclable packaging amongst our consumers, which matches our goal of offering more sustainable products. The company began a relationship with Enval in 2011 to help construct their first commercial-scale plant in the UK, andwe are excited to also explore opportunities to advance packaging recycling with Enval in the United States.”

Jeff Schuetz, Staff Vice President – Global Technology, Consumer Packaging at Sonoco, added:

    “While flexible packaging has a low environmental footprint, we recognize that innovation is needed in recycling technologies to improve its end-of-life options. Sonoco believes the combination of product and recycling innovation will provide a compelling solution and we are happy to partner with Enval on this exciting project.”

This new cleanroom enhances the current Class 6 operation with the ability to ultrasonically wash parts that are either purchased through our supply chain or supplied by customers as a component required for assembly or kitting.  In the past, it was a challenge to verify a purchased or supplied component was clean and to reduce risk and improve our capabilities, we purchased the necessary assets to perform this task internally.  Our customers can now take comfort in knowing their parts are fully validated and have gone through a validated cleaning process.  This further enhances our capabilities to offer USP 789 particulate control standards often seen in ophthalmic applications.

Earlier Event: March 18
Plas-Tech Adds New Capacity to Mold Manufacturing AGAIN
 

The jury of professionals from leading luxury brands and design agencies highlighted the high degree of innovation in  “IGO” concept – “An interesting idea as the cap is quite voluminous on its own, so it’s a clever way to give it a second use” and the “technical challenge of housing a travel format in the cap while obtaining a quality spray”.  Recognition for the “IGO” innovative design once again demonstrates the unique industrial savoir-faire of Aptar Beauty + Home.

This 2-in-1 packaging innovation allows the iconic fragrances of Issey Miyake to become nomadic thanks to a 20 ml spray of the fragrance integrated in the cap of the product. The “IGO” pack was designed and produced on the Aptar Oyonnax Campus, our expert Team specialized in Custom development.

This is the second distinction for IGO, following the CosmetiqueMag Award in Fragrance Packaging Design category.

We would like to thank the “Formes de Luxe” magazine and the jury for this recognition as well as Shiseido for this collaboration.