The fruits of a new collaboration will be shown in hall 6 at stand A43 at this year’s K Show. Borealis and thin-wall packaging group ITC Packaging, have developed rigid packaging formats for food contact, which are based on chemically recycled feedstocks.
Borealis’ Borcycle C and Bornewables portfolios have now replaced pre-existing material for a variety of food packaging formats found on European supermarket shelves, primarily in the ice cream and ready-to-eat segments.
The grades use chemically recycled polypropylene (rPP) and renewable-based PP.
The innovation will likely be of interest to brand owners and converters at K who are looking to avoid various levies in place regarding the use of recycled plastics in packaging. Finding suitable solutions for food-contact applications remains one of the major sticking points for many stakeholders.
Chemical recycling, though costly and still an emerging technology, may hold the key to many of these problems in the future. Grades in the Borcycle C portfolio are based on chemical recycling, while grades in the Bornewables portfolio are composed of renewably-sourced feedstocks derived from residue and vegetable waste streams.Both grades are produced using the mass balance method. Borealis says that because they are “virgin-grade” resins offering “the same high purity and performance as polyolefins made using fossil fuel-based feedstocks”, they can be dropped in to existing processes without the need for grade revalidation.“As packaging pioneers, ITC has always been at the forefront of innovation. Our long-term strategic partnership with Borealis has enabled us to consolidate our position as sustainability trailblazers in the European rigid packaging industry,” said Jose Luis Olmedo, ITC Packaging Managing Director.
“Our ultimate aim is to maintain high food safety standards while implementing an added-value circular economy model that meets market demands. This is what strengthens our relationships to both our customers and value chain partners.”“Working together with ITC in the spirit of EverMinds has allowed us to identify and implement the ideal technologies and material solutions for making rigid PP packaging food-contact compliant yet more circular,” said Peter Voortmans, Borealis Global Commercial Director Consumer Products.
“Building on the success story with Bornewables and Borcycle C, Borealis and ITC are now exploring the use of mechanically recycled compounds from the Borcycle M portfolio to further reduce the carbon footprint of ITC’s non-food packaging. This is how we advance value chain collaboration to close the loop on plastics circularity and at the same time underline how we manage to re-invent essentials for sustainable living.”