Sabic’s Trucircle gives life to transparent, lightweight rPP tea capsules for Melitta

12 Oct 2020 --- Sabic is using its Trucircle service portfolio to develop new premium organic tea capsules for Melitta Single Portion’s tea brand Avoury. The capsules’ transparent body is made from 100 percent polypropylene (PP) that uses feedstock from post-consumer recycled plastic.

“One of the main benefits of feedstock recycling – otherwise known as chemical recycling – is that it can take typically difficult to recycle, mixed-used plastic and recycles it back to the original polymer to create new plastics with the same characteristics and high quality as virgin resin,” Mark Vester, circular economy leader at Sabic, tells PackagingInsights. 

Sabic is currently working with Plastic Energy as a supplier of the pyrolysis oil, produced from mixed-plastic waste streams as feedstock to produce certified circular polymers.

“By forging new value chain partnerships to transform previously unrecyclable plastic into a valuable material, the packaging industry will ultimately help to create a circular economy for plastics and protect our planet’s natural resources,” Vester affirms.

Click to EnlargeThe launch represents an innovative use of recycled, transparent plastic tea capsules, says Sabic.Heat resistant PP protects tea leaves
Designed for the Avoury One tea machine launched in late 2019, the transparent tea capsules allow consumers to experience the high-quality tea with both taste and sight.

The capsules also create an aesthetically pleasing, lightweight design that preserves the quality of the tea leaves while addressing food safety regulations required for food and beverage products. 

The packaging is heat resistant to protect the tea leaves, enabling the tea to freely develop its flavors and nuances “at the click of a button,” notes the tea manufacturer.

First commercial plant
Sabic is working with “a range of partners” to increase its supply of certified circular polymers through the planned construction of our first commercial plant, situated in the Netherlands. 

“The project relies on value chain collaborations and innovations on an unprecedented scale and will enable SABIC to significantly upscale the production of certified circular polymers,” says Vester.

“Once our new commercial plant comes online, we’ll gain further knowledge on the scale up of the pretreatment technology and continue to develop a strong market demand for certified circular polymers.”

Trucircle’s “unprecedented demand”
Sabic’s Trucircle portfolio was created late last year and offers circular polymer solutions through the chemical recycling of mixed plastic waste, certified renewable polymers, polycarbonate (PC) based on certified renewable feedstock and mechanically recycled polymers.

Click to EnlargeSabic’s Vester says consumers rightly expect packaging to be sustainable and recyclable. Since then, Sabic’s Trucircle portfolio has received “unprecedented demand” from businesses from a wide range of industries looking for commercially viable solutions, the company notes. 

Sabic’s previous industry partnerships include recycled plastic packaging solutions for beverage cartons, food labels and meat packaging.

For the circular process to work, consumers, retailers, recyclers and manufacturers must all come together to enable valuable materials to be collected and processed to make new products, the company highlights. 

Sabic sees itself in a value chain position that gives it “unparalleled opportunities” to work with upstream and downstream partners. The company is now collaborating with more retailers and partners to demonstrate that closing the loop on used plastic is achievable.

“Avoury tea capsules is a great example of collaboration and innovation between Sabic and Melitta Single Portions to create the first tea capsules made using our Trucircule circular solutions,” Vester concludes. 

Edited by Anni Schleicher

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