Ring Container Technologies rolls out SmartCAN with broader recycling potential

19 Jun 2020 --- Ring Container Technologies is introducing SmartCAN, a 100 percent recyclable canister that has broad acceptance in curbside recycling programs. Unlike traditional multi-material canisters that often contain paper, SmartCAN is made solely from monomaterial PET. Highly recycled PET is made from high-value, high-demand materials, readily recycled and reprocessed, and easily incorporates post-consumer resin (PCR) while reducing the need to create new material from fossil feedstock.

“In addition to being made from one of the most recyclable materials globally, Ring Container manufactures SmartCAN using a proprietary two-stage process called Trim-Lite that enables production of a container at much lower weights than traditional blow-molding platforms and processes,” Cory VanLoocke, Director of Sales and Business Development at Ring Container Technologies, tells PackagingInsights.

Trim-Lite produces wide-mouth PET containers using up to 40 percent less material, but still providing higher performance characteristics in top load, vacuum and burst strength. “Ring has the ability to add PCR to any PET container including SmartCAN. The addition of PCR will enhance SmartCAN’s sustainable story by further reducing its carbon footprint and increasing its contribution to the circular economy,” VanLoocke explains.

“The Trim-Lite manufacturing process creates a more crystalline container that actually improves oxygen transmission rates (OTR) and moisture vapor transmission rate (MVTR) at much lower gram weights than a heavier traditional PET container. However, Ring has the ability to use a proprietary barrier technology called BarrierGuard to customize shelf life based on product needs and customer requirements,” he details.

Consumers often assume paper-based packaging is recyclable. However, paper-based composite canisters are not recyclable or accepted curbside. When they end up in the recycling bin, they are often diverted to landfills as a contaminate. “The ability for PET to be recycled many times over without losing its integrity, along with its high value to recyclers, lends itself to the very idea of a circular economy,” the company notes.

Closed-loop canisters
At Ring Container Technologies, this distinction between recyclable and recycled is essential. The company addresses this sentiment and has made moves to reduce its material usage and waste to support a circular economy. To this end, Ring Container Technologies engaged Three Peaks Consulting, a third-party sustainability consulting firm, to conduct a study on two different food containers: a paper-based composite canister and the mono-layer SmartCAN container, to objectively assess the collection and recycling pathway. The study reinforced the environmental sustainability benefits of SmartCAN.

Three Peaks Consulting engaged with recycling managers in 12 large cities across the US, including Memphis, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, to assess collection of both the composite canister and the SmartCAN container. It concluded that curbside collection is the most effective and efficient means of collecting post-consumer material.

Many curbside recycling programs accept a broad array of materials, which can prove confusing for consumers, who may feel a “false sense of satisfaction” when filling their curbside bin and would be surprised to learn that many canisters are diverted to landfills or a waste-to-energy incinerators, notes Ring Container Technologies. The results indicated that SmartCAN is readily accepted in the responding cities’ recycling programs.

In addition, SmartCAN follows Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines for a “Widely Recycled” How2Recycle label, a standardized labeling system that clearly communicates recycling instructions to the public. The approved label is based on compatibility with the entire recycling process, including acceptance in collection programs and sortation, reprocessing and end-market demand.

"We want our food manufacturing customers and the public at large to understand that it is both technologically possible and economically viable to produce plastic products that are completely recyclable, made from post-consumer resin, and are as clear and strong as containers made from virgin materials,” concludes Tim Ferrel, Vice President of Business Development at Ring Container Technologies.

By Benjamin Ferrer