Coveris arms Irish Dog Food with large recyclable bags amid pet purchase surge

08 Mar 2022 --- Coveris has equipped a leading pet food producer in Ireland and the UK with recyclable plastic food bags. The bags come in bigger sizes as eco-conscious pet owners show a preference for buying larger-size packs with recyclability credentials. 

According to the Pet Food Manufacturers’ Association (PFMA), 3.2 million UK households have acquired a pet during the COVID-19 pandemic. PFMA indicates this trend is driven mainly by Gen Z and Millennials (59% of new owners) who are more concerned about the environmental impact of packaging waste and, therefore, prefer buying bigger, recyclable size packs. 

Irish Dog Food, a leading pet food producer in Ireland and the UK, set out to achieve a balance between changing market demands and brand positioning at the point of sale. The brand teamed up with its packaging supplier to design its first recyclable bags in bigger sizes using Coveris’ MonoFlexE solution.

“The process of moving to a recyclable packaging solution is usually quite challenging,” Eric Valette, Innovation Business Unit flexibles director at Coveris, tells PackagingInsights. “Normally, we need to find a better alternative for two or three different materials to optimize product shelf life, logistic safety, and material efficiency.”

“With Irish Dog Food, we achieved all of that. By switching to a full mono-material polyethylene structure, we enabled both the desired recyclability and the highest quality of the recycled material.”

“PE may be recyclable at the kerbside in some UK local authorities but is generally recyclable at plastic carrier bag recycling points in large supermarkets,” he adds.

Consumer appetite for recycling is on the rise. According to Innova Market Insights, 39% of global consumers say they recycle more than before the pandemic. Moreover, 52% perceive packaging that can be recycled as environmentally sustainable.According to the Pet Food Manufacturers’ Association, 3.2 million UK households acquired a pet during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Monomaterial recyclability
The project’s goal was to switch from the existing range of bags with a PET/PE structure, which is not recyclable, to a monomaterial PE structure that enables full recyclability. Additionally, the range included two sizes of 10 kg and 12 kg bags.

“We were able to provide bigger bags with the same benefits as our standard structures with a matte finish while reducing the carbon footprint and preserving the environment, which was one of the key challenges for our customer,” explains Philippe Poudens, key account manager for pet food at Coveris.

“The matte finish of the bag offers outstanding communication and shelf appeal, which answered both the customer and market demand.”

Innova Market Insights pinpointed “Monomaterial Mastery” as its second top packaging trend for 2022, highlighting the transition away from hard-to-recycle, multilayer packaging to monomaterial solutions that are recyclable through existing infrastructure.

Recycle-by-design packaging empowers brands to meet circular economy targets and secure favor with the growing eco-conscious consumer base.

Aldi cooperation
The new pet food bags launched in the summer of 2021 and are available in UK Aldi stores. However, Coveris’ cooperation with this supermarket chain goes further than this product launch.

Both companies are signed up to the UK Plastics Pact, which brings together enterprises from across the plastics value chain to drive change in the way packaging is designed, produced, used, reused, and disposed of.The new pet food bags are available in UK Aldi stores.

No waste
This initiative supports Coveris’ No Waste strategy, aiming to provide the best eco-efficient and high-performance packaging solutions from a product and an operational perspective.

The monomaterial solution for Irish Dog Food answers one of the the UK Plastics Pact’s four targets, which is to transform 100% of plastics packaging to be reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025.

“We wanted to be one of the first to offer recyclable bags on the market, but we didn’t want it to impact our production process and machinery. Coveris was able to provide us with a new, recyclable material, however, with the same characteristics as our previous bags with the PET/PE structure,” underlines Jamie Queally, purchase manager at Irish Dog Food.

Coveris CEO Jakob A. Mosser recently revealed the supplier is increasing its focus on paper packaging solutions but has no intention of withdrawing from the plastics packaging segment. The European packaging manufacturer is primarily known for its plastic packaging and film products.

By Joshua Poole

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