Non-carbon black makes ice cream tubs recyclable

Norwegian ice cream producer Diplom-Is’s now uses non-carbon black containers from Berry Superfos, making it possible for them to be recycled.

Contrary to traditional carbon black, which the company used previously, new non-carbon black packaging is detectable by the Near Infra-Red (NIR) scanners used for waste sorting processes.

This means that the containers can be identified for recycling purposes. Berry Superfos uses a non-carbon black masterbatch with special pigments to improve NIR technology detection and sorting.

“We are always on the lookout for more sustainable and affordable packaging solutions for our products so when we got the opportunity to switch our premium ice cream brand Royal to non-carbon black containers, the choice was easy,” said Anne-Lene Molland, communications manager at Diplom-Is.

“We are very satisfied with the result. The new black enables proper sorting of Royal ice cream containers at local recycling and sorting facilities, which can save significant amounts of virgin plastic material. We have been very thorough in our approach by successfully testing the non-carbon black containers at two local recycling plants in Norway, as well as at a sorting plant in Germany.”

Diplom-Is is one of the biggest ice cream producers and a household brand in Norway. Therefore, the shift to a non-carbon black container has caught the attention of the market.

“We get a lot of positive feedback and have raised awareness of the challenges with the colour black for packaging through articles and social media,” said Molland. “We believe these initiatives may encourage others to switch to non-carbon black for packaging.”

The partnership between Diplom-Is and Berry Superfos is a long-lasting relationship, she continued:

“Our choice of Berry Superfos for packaging supplier is first of all a question of getting the right quality. Another advantage is their capability to follow up quickly and make any necessary improvements to the packaging; for example, to optimise the workflow in our production. We also give the Berry Superfos team a thumbs-up for their professionalism, reliability and for being easy to work with.”