Amcor kick-starts Colombia’s cooking oil circular economy with 100% rPET bottles

12 Oct 2021 --- Amcor Rigid Packaging is producing cooking oil bottles made entirely from recycled PET (rPET) in Colombia. The 100% recycled bottles are reportedly a first for the country.

“In 2018, Colombia passed Resolution 1407, which regulates the environmental management of packaging waste, including plastic,” Alexander Alvarez, general manager at Amcor Rigid Packaging Colombia, tells PackagingInsights.

“This [Resolution] requires producers to manage post-consumer waste and reduce pollution by preventing it from ending up in the environment with incremental recycling goals.”

Amcor Rigid Packaging worked with Colombian brand Gourmet to create more environmentally sustainable bottles for the edible cooking oil industry. The Amcor team in Cali, Colombia, also partnered with resin suppliers.

Limited rPET availability
As circular economy targets intensify, widespread reports suggest rPET supply is not generally keeping up with demand. In Europe, the soft drinks industry has urged the EU to provide it with “priority access” to recycled plastic and establish a legal framework for efficient Deposit Return Systems.

“Colombia is dealing with the same issues with rPET access and availability, which impacts the amount of recycled product we can incorporate into our packaging,” notes Alvarez.Alexander Alvarez, general manager at Amcor Rigid Packaging Colombia.

“Amcor Colombia has been working for the last several years to help consumers achieve an effective cycle closure of our packaging. This rPET incorporation is an example of this work and part of Amcor’s pledge to develop all its packaging to be recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025.”

Colombia’s recycling woes
The Gourmet bottles are recyclable-by-design. However, Acoplasticos, a nonprofit organization representing companies in the chemical production supply chain, estimates only three of the 12 million bottles placed on the Colombian market every day are recycled.

These low recycling levels are primarily due to Colombia’s current recycling infrastructure not being able to remove oil residue from packaging effectively, the nonprofit highlights.

“While Gourmet has run informative chemical recycling pilot tests, we are working with them to expand this project across the country,” continues Alvarez.

“We believe [the bottles] could be recycled into other items like light posts or hatches for boats. We are encouraging consumers to work with us to ensure these bottles are properly recycled.”The 100% rPET bottles are reportedly a first for Colombia.

Maintaining branding, reducing waste
Amcor was also concerned with refining the rPET bottles to ensure safety, and no change in taste and transparency – all while maintaining Gourmet’s visual branding.

“One of our main drivers is sustainability, and we are committed to creating a circular economy within the cooking oil industry,” says Luis Alberto Botero, president and CEO of Alianza Team, Gourmet’s parent company.

“Amcor Rigid Packaging worked with us to produce bottles from recycled content, reducing the need for virgin resin [and] helping us reduce our waste and fulfill Alianza’s promise of ‘Feeding a Better Tomorrow.’”

In an interview with PackagingInsights, David Clark, vice president for sustainability at Amcor, explained how the plastic circular economy is a “chicken and egg” situation in which recyclable packaging and recycling infrastructure must coincide to realize greater environmental sustainability.

In related news, Amcor introduced what was reportedly the multivitamin segment’s first 100% rPET containers from post-consumer waste last year.

We also recently spoke with Mathieu Nicey, Amcor’s EMEA marketing manager for dairy, about the latest trends driving the dairy packaging market, including environmental sustainability, e-commerce and supply chain transparency, set against the backdrop of a global pandemic.

By Joshua Poole

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