Weekly Roundup: BASF and Pulpex partner on paper bottles, Mondi and VPF produce recycled paper release liners

25 Jun 2021 --- In packaging news this week, BASF forged a collaboration with Pulpex and its global partners to develop proprietary, food-grade barrier technologies for the Pulpex paper bottle. Meanwhile, Mondi partnered with German manufacturer VPF to produce the “world’s first” release liner range from recycled paper. Also, UK supermarket Sainsbury’s rolled out its largest flexible plastic packaging recycling system.

In brief: Fiber-based packaging
BASF forged a collaboration with Pulpex and its global partners to develop proprietary, food-grade barrier technologies for the Pulpex paper bottle. “BASF’s strategic intent and track record of advancing chemical sciences to deliver a more sustainable future make the company an ideal partner for Pulpex,” said Scott Winston, Pulpex’s CEO. The wide range of applications for the Pulpex technology includes alcohol and non-alcohol beverages, liquid foods, homecare, personal care and consumer healthcare. The company is also working toward adding the capability of holding hot-fill and carbonated products by the end of 2022.

Mondi partnered with German manufacturer VPF, an expert in self-adhesive materials and coatings, creating the “world’s first” release liner range made from recycled paper. VPF committed to making its labels more sustainable by producing them from recycled materials. In the next step, it wanted its release liners also to be made of recycled materials and collaborated with Mondi to make this possible. Mondi used their customer-centric EcoSolutions approach to support VPF’s sustainability commitment. With Mondi’s EverLiner M R, all the components of VPF’s label laminates are now made from recycled materials.

Intermarché, one of France’s most popular retail chains, chose SIG’s Signature packaging material for its new 100 percent pure juice, launched under its “Les Éleveurs vous disent Merci!” (The Farmers say Thank You!) brand. SIG’s standard carton packs, made with around 75 percent renewable paper board from FSC-certified sources. The carbon footprint of a carton pack is up to 70 percent lower than other types of packaging, the supplier indicates.Intermarché chose SIG’s Signature material for its new 100% pure juice.

In brief: Recycled plastics
Sainsbury’s rolled out its largest flexible plastic packaging recycling system. Following a successful trial in the North East of England, 520 Sainsbury’s supermarkets will now offer a recycling system for all flexible plastics, allowing customers to recycle all flexible plastic packaging not commonly accepted for curbside collection by local authorities. The news follows Sainsbury’s joining the Flexible Plastic Fund in May – an initiative aiming to ensure flexible plastics are recycled. Although flexible plastic represents a fifth of all UK plastic packaging, only 6 percent is currently collected for recycling.

Ineos Styrolution announced the availability of mechanically recycled polystyrene in EMEA. Production of the new “Styrolution PS ECO 440” is based on Tomra’s high-quality NIR sorting process, delivering a polystyrene purity of more than 99.9 percent. The new material is available in white and light grey. “We will start production in EMEA with up to 1,000 metric tons in 2021, working very hard to grow volumes in line with our pledge to use on average 30 percent recycled content in products destined for polystyrene packaging in Europe by 2025,” noted Dr. Frank Eisenträger, product director PS EMEA at Ineos Styrolution.Sainsbury’s rolled out its largest flexible plastic recycling program.

Guala Closures launched its Divinum Blossom screw cap for wine on the French Market. The screw cap is manufactured using mainly recycled, recyclable and renewable materials. While the classic Divinum cap is already made of 58 percent average recycled aluminum, Divinum Blossom also uses new liners produced from renewable materials. The new seals or liners use bio-based polyethylene while bio-based plastic is also used to produce the expanded part of the liner. As a result, this new liner includes up to 100 percent renewable material.

In brief: Acquisition and investments
Berlin Packaging acquired Elias Valavanis, a supplier of glass packaging for the F&B industry. Based in Larissa, Greece, with locations in Bulgaria, Romania, and throughout Greece, Elias Valavanis is a key supplier of bottles and jars for olive oil, wine, spirits, soft drinks and water. Elias Valavanis has long-term relationships with its supplier partners and its more than 1,500 customers, who benefit from its value-added services, including package structural design, decoration capabilities, and a glass recycling facility. The acquisition is Berlin Packaging’s fifteenth in Europe since 2016 and its fifth acquisition in Europe during 2021. All employees and locations for this acquisition will be retained.Smurfit Kappa is investing €24M to expand its corrugated plant in Rethel, France.

Mondi approved a €125 million (US$149 million) capital investment project at its semi-chemical fluting mill in Kuopio, Finland. This investment will increase the facility’s capacity by around 55 thousand metric tons per annum to meet growing customer demand, enhance product quality and cost-competitiveness, and strengthen the mill’s environmental performance, the supplier says. The project includes an upgrade of the wood yard, fiber line, evaporation plant and paper machine. Start-up is planned for the fourth quarter of 2023.

Smurfit Kappa announced it will invest €24 million (US$29 million) to expand its corrugated plant in Rethel, North-East France, demonstrating the company’s continued commitment to its French customer market. The new investment will facilitate the consolidation of two existing facilities at the plant and the installation of a new state-of-the-art corrugator and conversion equipment. This investment will result in environmental improvements at the plant, including reducing CO2 emissions, with a saving of at least 150 metric tons annually, the company says.

By Joshua Poole