Weekly Roundup: ALPLA joins BP’s PET chemical recycling consortium, Sonoco signs to 4evergreen fiber-based alliance

20 Dec 2019 --- This week in packaging, ALPLA Group, an international plastic packaging and recycling specialist, joined a new consortium for the chemical recycling of PET. The consortium intends to speed up the commercialization of enhanced recycling technology, BP Infinia, which turns opaque and difficult-to-recycle PET plastic waste into recycled feedstocks. Also, diversified packaging supplier Sonoco and fiber solutions innovator Ahlstrom-Munksjö signed up to the 4evergreen alliance to advance fiber-based packaging, while Huhtamaki completed the acquisition of the majority of the business of Everest Flexibles for an enterprise value of €58 million.

In brief: Sustainability action
ALPLA Group joined a new BP-led consortium for the chemical recycling of PET, along with Unilever, Britvic and Danone. Leading companies operating across the polyester packaging value chain formed the consortium to help to address the problem of plastic waste by accelerating the commercialization of BP Infinia enhanced recycling technology. The consortium intends to combine the capabilities and experience of its members – packaging and recycling specialist ALPLA; food, drink and consumer goods producers Britvic, Danone and Unilever; waste management and recycling specialist Remondis; and energy and petrochemicals producer BP – to develop a new circular approach to dealing with PET plastic waste. Britvic – one of the leading branded soft drinks businesses in Europe – also joined the consortium.

Sonoco joined 4evergreen, an international industry alliance dedicated to boosting the role of fiber-based packaging to create a circular and more sustainable economy that reduces climate change and other environmental impacts. Launched and hosted by Cepi, the association representing the European paper industry, 4evergreen aims to generate awareness about the benefits of fiber-based packaging materials, advocate for European legislation supporting product design for recyclability and stimulate the development of optimized collection systems and appropriate recycling infrastructures. Fiber packaging supplier Ahlstrom-Munksjö also joined the 4evergreen alliance.ALPLA Group, Unilever, Britvic and Danone joined a new BP-led consortium for the chemical recycling of PET.

As world leaders meet for the UN Climate Change Conference in Madrid (COP25), Britvic announced new carbon emissions reduction targets to help tackle climate change. With the support of carbon management and energy performance business Carbon Credentials, Britvic committed to halving emissions from its operations by 2025. It has a further ambitious target to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Britvic’s new targets have been independently verified by the Science Based Target initiatives (SBTi), showing that they are in line with what the latest climate science says is needed to prevent a global temperature rise of 1.5°C and the worst impacts of climate change. This announcement makes Britvic the first UK soft drinks company to have an approved 1.5°C target.

DOMO Film Solutions announced that it will start sourcing 100 percent renewable energy for the production of its nylon film from January 2020. The move reflects DOMO’s continuous commitment to providing low-carbon nylon film. Also, DOMO Film Solutions benchmarked its nylon film’s CO₂ emissions with standard production, whether done within or outside the European Union. The results showed that DOMO emits up to 28 percent less CO₂ than standard production when producing nylon film. This performance is based on three key traits distinguishing DOMO Film Solutions: upstream integration, green energy-mix and logistic optimization.Sappi added two new grammages to its Sappi Seal range: the new 85 g/m² and 100 g/m² papers.

In brief: Miscellaneous
Huhtamaki completed the acquisition of the majority of the business of Everest Flexibles (Everest) for an enterprise value of €58 million. Everest is a privately-owned flexible packaging manufacturer in South Africa. The annual net sales of the acquired business are approximately €40 million and it employs altogether approximately 460 people. The deal was paid partly in cash and partly in shares, as the sellers of Everest entered into a joint venture with Huhtamaki’s Flexible Packaging, Foodservice and Fiber Packaging operations in South Africa. As a result, the sellers of Everest now own 30 percent of all Huhtamaki’s activities in South Africa.

Sappi, a market leader in innovative packaging barrier and sealable papers, added two new grammages to its Sappi Seal range. In addition to the 67 g/m² version, the new 85 g/m² and 100 g/m² papers enable branded goods manufacturers to package an even more extensive variety of products with this functional paper – either as primary or secondary packaging. Sappi Seal has integrated heat sealing functionality and is produced with over 95 percent renewable materials. The two new papers, along with the existing 67 g/m² product already available, are sustainable alternatives to packaging solutions incorporating papers with a PE coating. Sappi also announced that it too has signed up to the 4evergreen alliance.

By Joshua Poole