Plastic Packaging

• Sainsbury’s has announced it is removing traditional plastic tray packaging across its entire beef mince range and replacing it with a vacuum-packed alternative
• The packaging format, which uses a minimum of 55% less plastic, is the latest move in a series of initiatives from the retailer as it works towards its goal of halving its use of plastic packaging in Own Brand products by 2025

A supermarket-first, the new packaging will result in a minimum 55% reduction in plastic per product.

A new breakthrough by sustainable plastic innovator Polymateria in partnership with Indian plastic manufacturer Toppan Specialty Films (TSP), has seen plastics commonly used in the packaging industry biotransform in under 4 months and return to nature in just 176 days, leaving no microplastics or toxins behind. It’s the fastest-ever full biodegradation of biaxially oriented (flexible) polypropylene which is used in food and cosmetic packaging.

• At Costco, little things often come in big packages.
• Though it might seem wasteful or excessive, the strategy serves several functions to keep costs low.

Within the super-sized world of a Costco wholesale warehouse, you're likely to find some tiny products displayed in jumbo packaging — like, surprisingly big.

Small, high-value items like gift cards, cosmetics, and more are dwarfed by clear plastic shells or brightly colored cardboard touting the value of the product.

Polypropylene (PP) pots incorporating 50% recycled material from Berry are helping Norway’s largest dairy company TINE achieve its sustainability strategy.

TINE has converted the packaging for two of its Rømme products and one of its sour creams from polystyrene (PS) to PP pots with 50% recycled material, calculated using the mass balance approach, certified by the International Sustainability & Carbon (ISCC PLUS) system.

The Bottle Collective is committed to industrializing a recyclable, high-speed, low-cost Dry Molded Fiber bottle process.  This technology will be a viable alternative to single-use and commodity plastic bottles and applicable for multiple products and categories. PA’s mechanical engineering, design, automation, and material sciences teams, along with PulPac, have already developed the first functioning prototypes. Multiple leading brand partners joined the Collective to continue developing and scaling fiber bottles by 2025.

The refill pouches, which can be returned to the brand’s headquarters for recycling, are available in 70cl for each of the Darnley’s Gin Original, Spiced Gin & Navy Strength products. According to the company, the pouches derives from recycled plastic material (grade 7), “which is not only recycled but also weighs 50% less than a glass bottle of Darnley’s Gin to transport”.

Berry Global’s plastic trigger spray head for the circular economy, developed for its customer Werner & Mertz – already a winner in the German Packaging Awards 2022 – has achieved further recognition in the recently announced 2023 WorldStar Global Packaging Awards.

The Berry 3R circular trigger spray, which has received a WorldStar in the Household category, was developed to create a spray head that offered enhanced sustainability benefits without compromising its performance.

Last fall, Margus Vetsa, visiting lecturer in environmental management at Tallinn University, checked hundreds of municipal waste containers in Tartu, as part of the "PrügiBingo" project, which aimed to find out how keen the city's residents are on sorting their household waste. It turned out, that 96 percent of the mixed municipal waste containers examined, contained waste that shouldn't really be disposed of there.

TotalEnergies and Ecolab have partnered to launch plastic packaging incorporating recycled material that will contribute to promoting circularity in heavy-use packaging markets.