Pact Group transitions to 100 percent rPET food grade packaging

15 Jul 2019 --- With new funding from New Zealand’s Waste Minimisation Fund (WMF), Australia-based packaging solutions provider Pact Group has announced that it now has the capacity to use up to 100 percent locally sourced recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate (rPET) in its food grade packaging.

The existing infrastructure for recycling New Zealand’s most widely used plastic polymers, PET, processes it into recycled PET (rPET) flake. As this flake material is not approved for food contact, it must be sandwiched between layers of virgin material. This effectively means packaging can only comprise a proportion of recycled content.

With this new funding, however, Pact states it will invest further in new infrastructure that will thoroughly decontaminate rPET flakes into material that can be used in the production of fully recycled, food-contact approved packaging.

Pact Group is investing in new infrastructure for thoroughly decontaminating rPET flakes into food-contact approved material.“We are thankful for the support we have received from the Waste Minimisation Fund as it will enable Pact Group to produce an extensive range of 100 percent rPET food grade packaging products, including meat trays, bakery trays, deli containers, food containers, produce containers and beverage bottles,” says Executive General Manager Pact Group Eric Kjestrup.

Across the food and beverage sector, there is an increasing shift away from materials that have limited or no options for recycling, such as polystyrene, and coloured PET, notes Kjestrup. “Investing in this infrastructure with the help of the WMF will provide our customers with a recycled substitute to the current virgin PET range with the same level of functionality,” he adds.

Towards this endeavor, Pact is building a new facility in Auckland, New Zealand. When full capacity is reached, the company projects that the site will have the ability to process about 10,000 tons of rPET each year, which will reduce the requirements for virgin PET, as well as offsetting the utilization of other materials that are typically only disposed into landfill.

To date, packaging in New Zealand made from Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) – soft drink bottles and meat trays, for example – are primarily collected via kerbside recycling in small volumes in Wellington. The majority is baled and sold offshore.

This new capability means that Pact will have the ability to substitute all imported virgin resin with 100 percent rPET food-contact approved packaging, enhancing the circular economy.

“We are absolutely delighted to have received this funding and would like to thank the NZ Government. Its support is enabling Pact to continue to invest in sustainability infrastructure and offers a domestic solution to the conversion of recycled resin to food packaging,” says Kjestrup.

Pact positions itself as the largest converter and processor of pre and post-industrial consumer recycled resin in the Southern Hemisphere, converting over 30,000 tonsof resin which may otherwise end up in landfill.

This investment supports Pact Group’s 2025 End of Waste Strategy that was launched in 2018, encompassing three aspirational targets:

• By 2025 Pact Group will eliminate all non-recyclable packaging that it produces.
• By 2025 Pact Group will have solutions to reduce, reuse and recycle all single use secondary packaging in supermarkets.
• By 2025 Pact Group will offer 30 percent recycled content across its packaging portfolio.

The industry-wide push towards fully integrated rPET in packaging solutions spells ample opportunity in innovation. Emphasizing this heightened call for a circular economy, Evian recently teamed up recycling expert charity RECOUP to supply the Wimbledon 2019 tennis championship with bottled water packaged in 100 percent rPET plastic, while increasing the available number of recycling bins on the premises.

Also this month, natural mineral water brand Valvert in Belgium launched its new bottle made entirely from recycled PET (rPET), a first for Nestlé in Europe. This innovation was headlined as a step further towards meeting Nestlé's commitment to increase the rPET content in its water bottles to 35 percent globally by 2025.

In similar news, PepsiCo has announced that premium bottled water brand LIFEWTR will be packaged in 100 percent rPET and that bubly sparkling water will no longer be packaged in plastic by 2020. Bubly will instead be packaged in aluminum cans. The company's AQUAFINA water brand will also offer aluminum can packaging in US food service outlets, while the brand tests the move in retail. The changes, which all go into effect next year, are expected to eliminate more than 8,000 metric tons of virgin plastic and approximately 11,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

Last June, Coca-Cola announced that its GLACÉAU smartwater bottles will be made from 100 percent recycled plastic (rPET) by the end of the year in a move that is expected to remove 3,100 tons of virgin plastic from circulation. Coca-Cola in Great Britain also confirmed that it is on track to double the amount of rPET used in all other plastic bottles across its 20 brands to at least 50 percent in early 2020.

By Benjamin Ferrer