Weekly Roundup: PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay unveils compostable snack bags, Alpla produces recycled HDPE laundry detergent bottles

01 Oct 2021 --- In packaging news this week, PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay launched an industrially compostable bag for its Off The Eaten Path brand of vegetable snacks, while Alpla produced recycled detergent bottles for the Somat gel range. Meanwhile, a US$600,000 grant was awarded to US scientists for research into upcycling polyacrylic acid. 

In brief: Virgin plastic reductions 
PepsiCo’s snacking division Frito-Lay introduced an industrially compostable bag for its Off The Eaten Path brand of vegetable snacks. The bags are currently available at Whole Foods Market and select retailers starting this month. Moreover, they are touted as an example of PepsiCo’s investments in “breakthrough food packaging technology.” Producing the materials used for these bags creates approximately 60% lower greenhouse gas emissions than traditional packaging, and the technology may be licensed to other companies at no extra cost. 

Alpla launched laundry detergent bottles for its Somat gel portfolio made of up to 100% recycled high-density polyethylene (rHDPE). Created in collaboration with Henkel, two new bottle formats are now available: Somat Excellence Duo Gel and Somat All in 1 Gel are both available in bottles made of 50% rHDPE. The Somat All in 1 Gel is additionally offered as a Pro Nature product line in bottles made of 100% recycled material with a cap made of 50% recycled PP (rPP).

HB Fuller India debuted a food-safe adhesive for paper straws ahead of the country’s impending single-use plastics ban, set for enforcement in July next year. Branded Swifttak PS5600-I, the adhesive is water-based and provides resistance for up to three hours in beverages, including juices, soft drinks and milk. The company says it has overcome a challenging hurdle in innovations designed to aid the phase-out of single-use plastic items.

In brief: Chemical recycling advances 
French biochemistry company Carbios launched an industrial demonstration plant for its enzymatic recycling technology, C-ZYME. The plant, located at the company’s Cataroux site in Clermont-Ferrand, France, includes a 20 m3 depolymerization reactor capable of processing 2 tons of PET per cycle – the equivalent of 100,000 bottles. By the end of 2022, its operation will enable the complete engineering documents for the process (Process Design Package) to be drawn up for the building and operation of a 40,000-ton per year unit and future factories to be run under licensing agreements.PulPac’s dry molded machinery.

In brief: Launches and releases 
Paccor began providing 100% bio-based PP products for Nordic consumer goods brand Orkla. Paccor started testing the material with Orkla in its Finnish production site in Hämeenlinna recently. The bio-based PP is composed of renewable resources and follows the ISCC certified mass balance principle – a chemical industry standard for managing and tracing sustainability characteristics. In addition to the site in Finland, the Paccor production site in Ravensburg, Germany, also has ISCC certification.

The Dairy Farming Promotion Organization of Thailand (DPO) introduced a “National Milk” product range packaged in SIG’s 150 mL on-the-go combiblocXSlim carton packs with the company’s Signature Full Barrier packaging material. The packs use a small number of polymers in certified renewable forest-based materials. The products are available in flavors like tropical fruits and premium vegetables such as Rainbow or Mahachanok mango and taro and are aimed primarily at younger consumers.NYU chemist Tianning Diao (Left) and her lab will work to develop methods to repurpose polyacrylic acid as new functional materials. (Image credit: Diao research group /NYU) 

In brief: Partnerships and alliances 
Pulpac made two new industry connections to advance its environmental sustainability efforts. First, the company joined the 4evergreen alliance – an initiative to promote paper-based solutions in the packaging industry by raising awareness and supporting the development of recycling infrastructure. The alliance aims to raise the recycling rate of fiber-based packaging to 90% by 2030. Second, Pulpac partnered with the RZ Group of specialist engineering contract manufacturers to further its production capacity and expertise for Dry Molded Fiber. 

In brief: Research and grants
The US Department of Energy (DOE) awarded US$600,000 to Tianning Diao, an associate professor of chemistry at New York University, US, for research on “upcycling” polyacrylic acid – a plastic component commonly used in household products. Diao will work to develop chemical methods to repurpose the polymer into new functional materials. The three-year grant is part of the DOE’s US$25 million investment in building scientific foundations for new technology solutions that reuse discarded plastics. 

By Louis Gore-Langton