Zotefoams, Südpack and Refresco scale monomaterial barrier cartons for drinks

04 Jun 2024 --- Refresco, an independent beverage solutions provider for leading retailers and brands in Europe, North America and Australia, has signed a joint development agreement with cellular materials technology company Zotefoams to develop ReZorce, a monomaterial barrier packaging substrate in beverage carton applications. 

Refresco is also partnering with Südpack to deliver 100 million ReZorce cartons annually. 

Dirk Hardow, chief executive for Functional Films & Compounds at Südpack, says: “With our functional film, we will be contributing to the production of a packaging concept that will fulfill the requirements of the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive in terms of recyclability and recycled content.” 

Together with Refresco, Zotefoams aims to develop ReZorce beverage cartons so they could be trialed at a major European retailer.

Court-Johnston says Zotefoams brings together leading companies in extrusion, print, conversion, filling, packing and recycling to market ReZorce.“The traditional beverage carton was launched in the 1950s, and its design is fundamentally the same today,” says Neil Court-Johnston, president of Zotefoams’ MuCell Extrusion business unit, which produces the microcellular foaming technology used in the manufacture of ReZorce.

“The barrier properties of ReZorce lend themselves to a number of packaging applications, but we chose to focus on beverage cartons because we could not see anyone, anywhere, trying to deliver circularity. With around 250 billion beverage cartons used worldwide each year, this is a big problem.”

Less resources required 
Court-Johnston says that the annual Ellen MacArthur Foundation report is an illustration of the challenges FMCG manufacturers face in meeting their waste and carbon reduction targets, “which can be attributed in part to the complex nature of some types of packaging.”

He says that the company believes ReZorce is the solution for beverage cartons. 

“Peer-reviewed LCAs show that a 1 L ReZorce beverage carton uses half the energy and water required for a traditional liquid packaging board carton and has a global warming potential that is 55% lower. What’s more, it meets all current and impending legislation driving toward a more circular economy.”

Updating the audience on the progress of the company’s joint project with Refresco, Court-Johnston reported that ReZorce cartons are being produced at one of Refresco’s facilities in Europe, using a machine designed for traditional composite beverage cartons, modified with a proprietary change parts kit. 

The companies are now initiating quality and compliance testing procedures required for commercial production of beverage carton applications.

Edited by Natalie Schwertheim