Recyclable foodservice: Sabert launches post-consumer PET bottle flake containers
17 Sep 2019 --- Food packaging manufacturer Sabert has launched foodservice products made from 100 percent high-grade, post-consumer PET bottle flake. The move eliminates the need for virgin PET across the manufacturer’s portfolio and brings it a big step closer towards “closing the loop.”
“To manufacture its clear PET products, Sabert is only sourcing raw materials made from 100 percent post-consumer PET, and is not sourcing any post-industrial recycled or virgin PET. In addition, in line with its zero-waste policy, Sabert is exclusively recycling its own internal production waste coming from its production of clear products made from 100 percent post-consumer recycled PET,” Sabert Marketing and Innovation Manager, Gisèle Nonnweile, tells PackagingInsights.
Using post-consumer PET can often lead to a greyish hue in plastic products, which can be off-putting for consumers. Nonnweile notes that by using high-grade feedstock, quality can be guaranteed.
“Sabert is sourcing high-grade post-consumer bottle flakes to produce products and it employs cutting edge technology for the use and reuse of recycled PET. During the production process, Sabert uses a visual control of the material to prevent any deviation,” she explains.
However, some industry quarters have noted that the supply of high-quality feedstock may become an issue, especially as regulatory requirements for increased recycle plastic content in packaging, such as the proposed UK Plastics Tax, drives fresh demand.
Continuous recycling
A further sustainability credential of the PET-based range is that it can be recycled a number of times into new food grade containers. European countries and the UK are now investing in recycling programs that will guarantee effective reuse of plastic in the future, adds Nonnweile.
Sabert has launched foodservice products made from 100 percent high-grade, post-consumer PET bottle flake.
“Sabert’s clear rPET solutions are recyclable. Plastics have several lives and PET is the most recycled plastic. Recycled plastics are used to manufacture a wide variety of new products. Sabert encourages all the plastic users to recycle and to help to ‘close the loop’ toward a circular economy,” Nonnweile notes.
The need for easy to recycle foodservice packaging was highlighted by UK environmental sustainability charity Hubbub in May. It found that the lunch habits of British workers was generating 10.7 billion items of packaging waste every year – the equivalent of 276 items per person and called for UK foodservice to opt for more easily-recyclable packaging which is clearly labeled, and for the government to facilitate more recycling bins.
When asked about the rise in industry players moving from plastic foodservice packaging to paper-based, Nonnweile says that despite this reality, plastic still has a role to play as it remains a strong solution for food contact packaging, providing excellent barrier properties.
“We need to look at the bigger picture and consider the whole story to include end of life. Our clear PET solutions are now made from 100 percent recycled material and are 100 percent recyclable. This approach is ‘closing the loop.’”
Sabert has also been supplying foodservice packaging made from pulp (sugarcane bagasse) since 2011. Due to this early development, Sabert is now reportedly one of the biggest suppliers of compostable solutions on the European market.
With more than 30 years in the packaging and foodservice industry, Sabert touts itself as a specialist in manufacturing innovative food packaging, high-quality disposable tableware and compostable food packaging and tableware. Sabert has implemented a number of measures to protect the environment, such as recycling 100 percent of internal production waste, the use of green energy and investments in production tools that use less energy and optimization of stacking to increase storage and transport space.
By Laxmi Haigh
