Coveris’ 100% recycled plastic shrink film propels Highland Spring toward circular economy

10 Feb 2021 --- Highland Spring natural-source water brand is unveiling a 100 percent recycled and recyclable plastic shrink film with packaging partner Coveris. 

Coveris’ award-winning Duralite R polyethylene (PE) film for the UK brand’s multipacks features 50 percent post-consumer recyclate (PCR) and 50 percent post-industrial recycled material (PIW).

“A PE recycling infrastructure exists in the UK and, for consumers, we recommend [recycling via] front of store collections or kerbside collection depending on local authority recycling rules,” Tim Frost, sales director at Coveris Louth, tells PackagingInsights.

Supporting a circular economy for plastic packaging, the 50/50 blend of recycled content achieves a reported 54 percent carbon footprint reduction compared to virgin plastic.

“The dominant savings are from the use of recycled content as a replacement for virgin materials. Our Duralite range of films is already downgauged for optimal performance with the minimal amount of material,” explains Frost.

Highland Spring’s “Eco Pack” is the first major brand launch using a 100 percent recycled film from Coveris’ Duralite R range.

Sainsbury’s supermarket trials
The Highland Spring 12 x 500 ml multipack launched in January and is being trialed at 270 Sainsbury’s supermarket stores across the UK.

Following the introduction of its 100 percent recycled and recyclable “eco bottles” range in 2019, Highland Spring has continued its use of 100 percent recycled materials as part of its commitment to providing healthy hydration in an environmentally sustainable way.

“We want consumers to understand plastic is a valuable resource that should not be treated as waste,” comments Simon Oldham, CCO at Highland Spring Group.

Highland Spring’s “Eco Pack” is the first major brand launch using Coveris’ 100% recycled PE film.“We are taking a holistic approach to our packaging and want to create a truly circular plastics economy in the UK to ensure these materials stay in the loop.”

“That’s why we are delighted to introduce our next generation 100 percent recycled shrink wrap, which is a significant step forward in ensuring all our packaging uses recycled materials and designed in a way that makes it easy for consumers to embrace positive plastic behaviors.”

Detecting visual differences
The product performance, functionality and overall visual appeal of Duralite R 100 percent recycled films is comparable to virgin plastic films, Frost asserts.

“There can be a variation in the clarity of our Duralite R films featuring recycled content and Duralite collation wrap from virgin materials depending on the quantity of recyclate.”

“The higher the percentage of recyclate, the higher the variation; for example, a Duralite R film with 30 percent PCR is not visibly different while Duralite R with 100 percent recycled content has a detectable variation.”

“When supported by on-pack communication about the use of recycled content and recyclability, we believe consumers will not expect like-for-like clarity due to the positive packaging development,” he explains.

Frost adds that the main barriers to reaching 100 percent recycled content were overcoming inconsistency in feedstock and identifying the recyclate polymers to perform on customer’s high-speed, collation shrink wrapping lines.

“We developed a technical solution to negate variations and maximize consistency on our lines for optimal film performance,” he tells PackagingInsights.

Circular economy films
Through its No Waste strategy, Coveris is focused on a sustainable future for plastic packaging by advancing high-quality recyclable materials, innovative use of recycled content and a zero-waste operating model.

Other recent Coveris innovation includes hot food on the go packaging range, a recycling-enhancing Bag-in-Bag solution and a lightweight sandwich skillet.

Meanwhile, Dow has launched its first PCR-rich resin for collation shrink film in North America, and Berry Global brand WaveGrip has unveiled a can carrier containing over 50 percent recycled plastic.

By Joshua Poole

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