Sustainability

In 2022, Cadbury announced it had sourced 30 per cent (on a mass balance basis) of the plastic needed to wrap its 160-gram to 185-gram Cadbury Dairy Milk family blocks produced in Australia from recycled materials.

Cadbury now aims to use 50 per cent recycled plastic for its wrappers across its chocolate blocks, bars and pieces range produced in Australia. This will be equivalent to halving its virgin plastic needs to wrap those products.

Suzuki Motor Corporation has adopted Green Planet, a biodegradable polymer developed by Kaneka Corporation, to replace polystyrene foam in the final packaging of its outboards. Kaneka says Green Planet can decompose in seawater and is 100% biomass-derived.

To maintain the same cushioning performance as conventional polystyrene, Suzuki developed a two-level structure of cardboard shapes to supplement the Green Planet.

Expanding its circular approach to plastic across the sector, Duo will manufacture shrink film for food and beverage outer packaging using Oceanix™ recycled plastics, made from 98% maritime waste such as fishing nets and ropes.

Targeting better performance

The team at Metsä Board’s Excellence Centre in Äänekoski, Finland started to work on the new alternative a few years ago. “We were looking to provide the same experience by remodeling a box that was strong and rigid but lighter and with a smaller environmental impact,” Ilkka Harju, Metsä Board’s Packaging Services Director explains.

The new packaging solution is a mono-material polyethylene (PE) laminate that can be used for a wide range of packaging formats. It can replace non-recyclable with recycle-ready lidding for 3D thermoformed packages, that are used for drapes and protective materials, catheters, as well as injection and tubing systems. Another application of the laminates would be in 2D pouches for products such as wound care materials and gloves.  

The theme of this year’s exhibition, from 13-16 November, is sustainability. Formpeel P is the latest addition to Coveris’ portfolio of sustainable materials, which also includes Formpeel T, Flexopeel T and Cleerpeel, and provides the same functionality and safety as traditional materials, while minimising packaging and product waste. 

India generates an alarming 9,400 tonnes of plastic waste daily, much of which ends up in landfills or waterways. Despite recycling 60 percent of its waste, unmanaged plastic waste continues to pollute terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. This plastic waste includes a wide array of items such as packaging films, wrapping materials, shopping and garbage bags, fluid containers, clothing, toys, and building materials.