Coveris: Circular economy solutions take center stage at FachPack 2021
04 Oct 2021 | Coveris
Speaking at FachPack 2021, Will Mercer, business unit R&D director at Coveris, takes us through the company’s latest circular economy solutions, namely its MonoFlex monomaterials range, Duralite R Recycled shrink film, wash-off labels and linerless label punnets. Coveris recently unveiled a Film Science Lab at its Winsford films facility in the UK, providing state-of-the-art tech to support accelerated R&D.
Josh report reporting for Fact Pack 2021.
I'm here at the Coryan with Will Mercer, business unit R&D director.
So, at Ftpack 2019, Coris launched its range of recycle P and PP Monoflex films and laminates.
Yeah.
Why is this range enjoyed such popularity and in what ways has this offering been extended in recent times?
The big thing around the likes of the Monoflex PE and also the Monoflex PP is the fact that they're both very suitable for both mechanical and advanced recycling infrastructure.
So from the early days of the introduction of materials, now like anything as a business, as an industry, we are very fast on our feet, very dynamic, and when we first came to the market in 2019, you're very much dealing with the components you have at that time.
But as an industry we move very fast, we evolve the products very fast and as new products come in that allow us to make better quality, more consistent, more functional, then we bring those to the market and we extend that range so that we can actually diversify and give the customers the product that is most environmentally friendly for the application that they are packing.
OK, and another sustainable packaging highlight today is the next generation Duolite R film, made from up to 100% recycled VE.
How common is it now for customers to request recycled content in, shrink wrap, and what is motivating these demands?
The reason that it is very important to have recycled content in shrink wrap is there are an awful lot of applications where you don't need the food safe type materials because there's a functional barrier in the likes of a tin can, an aluminum can, etc.
And if we don't start to develop the circularity, the demand in those applications, then we'll never move it forward because nobody wants to pay.
Price.
Nobody wants to evolve the product unless there's a demand for it.
So by focusing on the likes of shrink wrap, which is used in very high volume, driving that mechanical process, improving that mechanical process, then moving into advanced type technology, what we're doing is we're generating the products, we're generating the demand, and we're starting on that road of evolution to have a much better quality.
More functional product.
That makes perfect sense.
And Coris also offers wash-off labels designed to facilitate recycling in a closed loop system.
Correct?
Yes.
Could you explain how these labels detach from the bottle so easily and why this is so crucial for recycling levels?
There's two sides to it.
There's one is compatibility.
So where you have recycling infrastructure that allows light light label to be put together, then we go that route.
But for example, with the likes of PET.
If I put a PET label onto a PET bottle, then when it's ground up and washed, the actual label will sink to the bottom with the PET and contaminate that.
Whereas by using a polypropylene based label with a wash-off adhesive, it allows that quick, easy separation.
The label then floats to the surface, the PET sinks to the bottom, and what you do is you get a very high quality.
The recovery of that PET.
OK, very interesting.
And if we turn our attention now to your lineless label pants for fresh produce, yep, what's the key design features of this solution, particularly in terms of environmental sustainability and efficient packing speeds?
From the point of view, we very much work with Ravenwood packaging on that format.
Now we do a lot of work with Ravenwood around line this onto, food trays, etc.
And what we've seen is a massive demand from consumers where they don't want cardboard wrapped in plastic, and the benefit of it is it's an old cardboard solution.
Now we've seen through COVID times that people are very funny about people touching the foods and having that sort of safety, and this is what the line on this label allows you to do.
It allows you to deliver an old paper-based solution, still allows the customer to see it, but discourages the consumer from actually touching the product whilst providing that sort of stability, holding product in the pack and enabling you to ship it around without having that plastic element.
OK, brilliant.
