Awash with circularity: Persil grabs eco-boost from Greiner’s post-consumer pack
16 Apr 2020 --- Greiner Packaging has produced a 50 percent recycled polypropylene (rPP) cardboard-plastic solution for Henkel brand Persil’s 4in1 DISCS detergent. Through a patented tear-off system, the K3 cardboard wrap and plastic container can be easily separated and recycled. The reduction in plastic content reduces CO2 emissions, while the cardboard wrap maintains the container’s stability. The rPP is sourced from discarded household plastics. K3 solutions are suitable for a wide range of applications, including powdered foods, cereals and pet food.
As circular economy targets loom on the horizon, the incorporation of post-consumer recyclate (PCR) into packaging is on the rise. Innova Market Insights identifies this transition as a top packaging trend for 2020, namely “Plastics Come Full Circle.”
Andreas Auinger, International Project Manager at Greiner, tells PackagingInsights that although increased PCR use is important to contemporary packaging design, the packaging functionality must not be compromised.
“When deciding on the amount of recycled content for our packaging we always have to keep in mind the characteristics the packaging must fulfill. Cardboard that is made of 100 percent recycled material, for instance, would not be stable enough for a packaging application like this (Persil’s 4in1 DISCS). So it makes sense to use a small amount of fresh fiber.”
“With plastics, we use 50 percent PCR material. We also use post-industrial recycled material for the boxes (from the stamping grids). This makes sense – from an economic and sustainability point of view – but this kind of material is not considered “real” recycled material. Therefore, it is not included in the 50 percent recycled content. Moreover, packaging also always has to fulfill certain optical criteria, which can also influence the usage of recycled material,” Auinger explains.
K3 cardboard-plastic combination
K3, the cardboard-plastic combination from Greiner, combines high-quality packaging with marketing communication and a more positive environmental contribution. FMCG brands are increasingly finding a competitive advantage in more prominent on-pack communication of their packaging’s environmental sustainability credentials, according to Innova Market Insights.
Henkel uses K3 containers to package various detergent capsule products, including its Persil 4in1 DISCS. The cardboard-plastic combination helped to reduce the use of plastic by more than 40 percent as compared with the previous packaging, Greiner indicates. The packaging solution also received a Henkel Sustainability Award in January 2019 in recognition of these qualities.
Greiner uses a two-layer process to create the design. While the inside of the plastic container is made of white virgin material for a high-quality appearance and product presentation, the outer layer of the packaging includes rPP from PCR sources. The outer layer’s grayish color has “no impact on the look” of the packaging as it is encased by the cardboard sleeve, which can be printed on for an attractive appearance.
Whether round or rectangular, an injection-molded or a thermoformed container – any customer requirement can be realized using K3 packaging, Greiner confirms. As a one-stop solution provider, Greiner supplies both the plastic container and the cardboard wrap as well as lid solutions, which can also be child-resistant.
The packaging solution is suitable for powdered foods, such as cocoa, salt or baby formula, or as a replacement for tube-shaped packaging or pouches like those used for pet food. K3 packaging can also serve as a substitute for coated cardboard solutions – as used for detergents – or for cardboard containers integrating additional plastic packaging, like cereals.
Slashing virgin plastic in half
Henkel wants to reduce the amount of virgin plastics from fossil sources in its consumer products by 50 percent by 2025. In a notable innovation, Henkel launched a fully recyclable black plastic bottle for its Bref products last year. This new packaging material – developed by Ampacet – uses an alternative carbon-free black color, enabling used bottles to be detected by recycling facility near-infrared optical sensors and integrated back into the value chain.
Both Greiner and Henkel are signatories to the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment launched by the UK-based Ellen MacArthur Foundation. The initiative aims to eliminate problematic or unnecessary plastic packaging, to make packaging reusable, recyclable or compostable and to increase the use of recycled materials in packaging.
Greiner is offering increasingly circular solutions to its customers, including more sustainable cardboard-plastic tear-off combinations, recycled PET bottles, agro-based plastics and bioplastics. PackagingInsights spoke to Konrad Wasserbauer, Director Circular Economy at Greiner, about these latest solutions and the supplier’s ambitions to drive its circularity to new heights.
COVID-19 update
Greiner has implemented “extensive measures” to safeguard its personnel against infection and simultaneously maintain deliveries to its customers. The company has been classified by the Austrian federal government as being part of the “critical infrastructure.” Accordingly, Greiner is upholding the supply of food packaging to its customers so that deliveries to supermarkets can be guaranteed.
By Joshua Poole
