Fully recyclable: TAJA Coconut bottles boast recyclable body, cap, ring and label

16 May 2019 --- Beverage company TAJA has released a fully recyclable bottle for its TAJA Coconut drink, which also boasts a recyclable cap, ring and label. According to the company, this innovation reflects its commitment to supporting sustainable farming and composting practices. The product can also be recycled multiple times and as a result, it has a very low carbon footprint compared to other brands. “Most recyclers sort out bottles with shrink sleeves and they end up in landfills. We employed the use of crystallizable PET for our shrink label, which is fully compatible with the PET recycling stream,” the company’s founders, tell PackagingInsights.

The company’s founders go on to explain that beverage brands typically use shrink sleeve labels made of PETG (Glycol Modified PET) which hinders recycling as PETG does not crystallize like PET and is not compatible with PET recycling stream. “In addition, since the label has the same density as PET material for the bottle, it is collected as PET and this improves yield for recycler, which is critical for their profitability.”

To preserve the health of its consumers while minimizing their ecological footprint, the coconut water is prepared using a patented cold-filtered three-part process that extracts the coconut water while keeping all of the nutrients intact by avoiding the application of harmful heat, air or additives.

Sustainability in a coco-nutshell
The company sought to ensure the sustainability of its packaging via an innovative approach in design and a commitment to full recyclability. “Sensitive products like coconut water are often packaged in packaging containing contaminants like colorants, oxygen scavengers or other additives thereby reducing the recycling efficiency and sometimes rendering packaging completely unrecyclable. Our PET bottle contains no additives, ensuring no contamination to the recycling stream,” the company notes. 

In addition, the brand dedicated its efforts in ensuring that its package could be recycled using existing recycling infrastructure and not requiring any additional CAPEX expenditures. “Since our bottles have no additives, it will result in recycled PET (rPET) of equal quality as virgin PET resin without any impact to PET color (yellowness) or any black contamination which is typically generated when PET with additives is processed. In other words, our bottles have no negative impact on the quality of the rPET stream and will enhance yield for recyclers. We use the industry standard HDPE closure material,” the company further explains. 

Focus on sustainable practices
According to TAJA, the company is extending its sustainability reach using alternative materials. Coconut plays a significant role in the economy of India and is linked with religious and social activities throughout the country. After extracting water from tender coconuts, what is left is the coconut husk, which has significant value. “We have partnered with local companies to convert the coconut husks into two products: Coir Fiber and Coir Pith.”

Coir Fiber is a 100 percent organic naturally occurring fiber derived from the renewable resource of Coconut husks. It has a wide variety of applications ranging from floor mats, brushes, ropes, twine, and nets for shellfish harvesting.  

Coir Pith is a by-product of Coir Fiber manufacturing. Coir pith has high moisture retention capacity and is rich in nutrients which makes it ideal for use as mulch and soil amendment for horticulture plants. “Through our partnerships, we ensure nothing goes to waste and promote a circular economy for the local growers and businesses in local community,” the company notes. 

With sustainability in mind, consumers are becoming growingly conscious about the need to preserve nature and an increasing number of people and companies are opting for environmentally friendly products. The European Parliament previously voted to approve a sweeping ban – The Single Use Plastics Directive (SUDP) – of the ten single-use plastics that are most commonly found on European beaches, as well as other materials that contribute to microplastic pollution. Where alternatives are readily available on the market, cotton bud sticks, cutlery, plates, straws, stirrers, sticks for balloons, as well as cups, food and beverage containers made of expanded polystyrene will be banned within two years.