Weekly Roundup: Coca-Cola trades green Sprite bottles for clear alternative, Constantia Flexibles to open flexible plant in India

15 Nov 2019 --- In packaging news this week, Coca-Cola swapped its iconic green Sprite bottles for more easily recyclable clear PET bottles in the ASEAN market and Constantia Flexibles announced plans to open its more sustainable and recyclable flexible packaging plant in India. Also, European Plastics Converters (EuPC) launched an online tool to help UK packaging companies monitor the uptake of recycled polymers in products and Reckitt Benckiser (RB) and Veolia announced a partnership to drive the shift to a circular economy for plastic cleaning products.

In brief: Sustainability
The Coca-Cola Company shifted from green to clear PET bottles to boost recycling of its Sprite bottles in South Easteast Asia. The change from Sprite’s iconic green color will make the PET bottles far easier to recycle. The company notes it will be beginning its transition in the Philippines, its largest market in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region, and then expand to other markets in Southeast Asia through 2020. Sprite has been sold in iconic green bottles in ASEAN since the drink was first launched in the Philippines in 1968. Coca-Cola’s global World Without Waste goal is designed to help collect and recycle a bottle or can for every one that the company sells by 2030.

Austria-based Constantia Flexibles will inaugurate a new plant designed to produce more sustainable and recyclable flexible packaging in India. Propelling the initiative, the Indian government’s “Plastic Waste Management Rules” are exerting pressure on the recycling economy but also supports initiatives and companies which advocate for less waste. After a construction time of more than two years, Constantia Ecoflex Ahmedabad started test runs in September 2019. The plant has an area of 24,500 sqm, with its current workforce of 50 employees expected to triple by the second quarter of 2020.

Constantia Flexibles pioneers in India in sustainable packaging productionA single, unified online tool called MOnitoring Recyclates for Europe (MORE) is now available for use by converters in the UK, who can use the platform to monitor the volumes of recycled polymers used in their products. The UK is the 13th country in the EU to offer the platform to the industry. European Plastics Converters (EuPC) designed MORE to register the industry’s progress in reaching the EU target of 10 million metric tons of recycled polymers annually between 2025 and 2030. 

In partnership with Veolia, Reckitt Benckiser has developed new packaging for cleaning products brand Finish Quantum to drive the shift to a circular plastics economy. The packaging now contains 30 percent recycled plastic and is featured in gray wrapping, as the company decided not to incorporate masking pigments or additives to the packaging. Continuing their collaboration in the future, a team of 20 experts from Reckitt Benckiser and Veolia are also developing enhanced collection systems, aiding consumer sorting habits and improving household recycling. 

Coca-Cola Amatil entered into a Heads of Agreement with global leader in resource management Veolia Australia and New Zealand to explore opportunities for a recycled plastic processing plant in Australia, focusing on recycling PET plastic. “It comes at a critical time for Australia where we need to be doing more to resolve ongoing issues around plastics and their potential to be recycled. I look forward to future announcements on circular economy solutions,” says Veolia Australia and New Zealand CEO and Managing Director Mr Danny Conlon. Coca-Cola Amatil is one of Australia’s largest users of recycled PET (rPET), with seven out of 10 of its plastic bottles in Australia set to be made from 100 percent rPET by the end of 2019.Illustrated by female artists, this is the first time the limited-edition Stacy’s Rise bags will be available at retail since the designs were unveiled earlier this year. 

Starting today, on US America Recycles Day, Nespresso, the New York City Department of Sanitation, and Sims Municipal Recycling are encouraging New Yorkers to recycle their Nespresso coffee capsules and other lightweight aluminum items through the City’s curbside recycling program. New Yorkers can now recycle all small aluminum products in the same recycling bin as they do plastic, glass and other materials. This collaboration has the potential to reduce the 43,000 metric tons of aluminum foil and other mixed metals that currently end up in local landfills each year.

In brief: Launches
Commemorating upcoming Women’s Entrepreneurship Day on November 19, Stacy’s Pita Chips is set to unveil new packaging at Kroger stores across the US to celebrate the key characteristics of female founders. This launch was inspired by Stacy’s own founder, Stacy Madison. From left to right, the packaging features illustrations from female artists “demonstrating the grit, success and inspiration entrepreneurial women experience.” 

Not only does the Whittard packaging have a sleek look with an attractive heritage print, but it is also efficient, durable and 100 percent recyclable.

Purveyors of fine tea, coffee and cocoa, Whittard of Chelsea has planned to launch new delivery packaging for online orders this month. Durable, fuss-free and aesthetically pleasing, the new packaging was designed with the optimum door-to-door customer experience in mind suitable for gifts or self-purchases. Certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the packaging is 100 percent recyclable and has been produced using eco-friendly vegetable and water-based inks. Additionally, the company has eliminated the plastic protective air pillows previously featured in the boxes, saving over five metric tons of plastic a year. 

VPF, an adhesive materials providing company for water-based Inkjet printing, is set to expand its product portfolio through the launch of a new high-gloss Inkjet material. For the first time, high-quality glossy Inkjet foil solutions comprising PE, PP and PET will be made available alongside the company’s range of foils in conventional printing methods. The new material, has a white high-gloss finish and is provided with a 100my premium coating for fast drying, durable Inkjet printing. Users can implement many new label solutions which are otherwise not possible with the currently available, often inflexible Inkjet PP and PET foils.Internal tests yielded excellent round label characteristics for cosmetic product packaging systems and e-liquid containers, says VPF.

In brief: Business news
Technology developer Avantium confirmed its strategy to turn to high-value applications for PEF (polyethylene furanoate) with a new Avantium branch office based in Japan. Under its new name Avantium Japan K.K, the branch will help to accommodate the marketing of PEF innovations in high-value applications in the Japanese packaging and electronics market. Avantium Japan K.K. will also serve as the office for regulatory affairs and business development in Japan. 

The board of Britvic, a branded soft drinks business, entered into exclusive discussions with Refresco over the potential sale of Britvic’s three juice manufacturing sites in France, its related private label juice business and the Fruité brand. Britvic will retain ownership of the Pressade and Fruit Shoot brands, which would be manufactured by Refresco as part of a long-term partner arrangement. The transaction will not affect the Teisseire and Moulin De Valdonne brands or the private label syrups business, which are all manufactured at the remaining site in Crolles. The transaction would be expected to complete in Spring 2020.

By Anni Schleicher