Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) and Coca-Cola Middle East announced the introduction of 100%

Ecolean is working to optimise the entire lifecycle of the raw materials it uses in its packages – from production to end-of-life package recycling – towards the circular use of resources.

“We take a life-cycle perspective on the raw materials we use,” says Anna Palminger, Sustainability Director. “This involves making resource-efficient packages and helping our customers to use less packaging material, to promoting the consumer recycling of our packages.”

ZERO WASTE TO LANDFILL FROM OUR PLANTS

Ecolean’s operations sent no waste to landfill in 2020. 97 percent of the waste produced at its plants was sent for recycling, two percent was treated as hazardous waste and one percent was sent for energy recovery.

“During 2020, our packaging production plants focused on reducing production waste through continuous improvements and standardising work,” says Palminger. “This has resulted in further improvements to our processes, and we are making additional improvements in 2021.”

PARTNERING ON RECYCLING

With many countries lacking collection systems for plastic packaging and approximately 2 billion people worldwide not having access to waste management in general, improving waste management and recycling infrastructure is a priority. By engaging and sharing knowledge with the recycling industry and through dedicated recycling projects, Ecolean enhances the opportunities for recycling its packages.

Ecolean is a member of initiatives such as the European project CEFLEX (a circular economy for flexible packaging) and Collect & Recycle (CoRe) in Pakistan, to enable the recycling of Ecolean packages in various markets.

“Recycling is essential for the sustainable use of packaging and is a major priority for our business,” says Anna Palminger. “We design our packages to ensure they are easy to sort and recycle and will launch a new packaging range, designed for easier recycling by 2025 at the latest, and we support local recycling schemes and projects – all to boost the recyclability of our packages.”

TOWARDS CIRCULARITY

“Circularity – the processes of ensuring the continuous reuse of resources with zero waste – is our visionary target going forward,” says Peter L Nilsson, CEO, Ecolean Group. “We have made progress in our own operations and through recycling partnerships around the world, but there is much more to be done. In order for food packaging to use recycled packaging material, which today is hindered by food safety legislation, we need to see a shift in recycling technologies. The development of chemical recycling could potentially be an answer to this challenge. Ecolean strives to contribute to the development of new technological solutions in order to boost plastic food packaging recycling any way we can in the coming years.“

ECOLEAN’S RECYCLING INITIATIVES

Read more about Ecolean’s life-cycle perspective and recycling initiatives in the Sustainability Report 2020.

Together with long-term Ecolean customer Mengniu, which is among the top ten largest dairy companies globally, Ecolean arranged a series of sustainability awareness events in China during December 2020. A temporary collection site for the recycling of Ecolean packages was established, with the purpose of highlighting environmental awareness and the importance of collecting and recycling packages.

Designing packages for recycling means that packages are composed of material that can be easily sorted and recycled where applicable collection and sorting systems are available. The transparent Ecolean packaging ranges, both Ecolean Air Clear and Ecolean Air Aseptic Clear are certified as ‘Designed for Recycling’, when evaluated by SUEZ.Circpack. The certification provides third-party verification that the packages are recyclable where recycling systems for mixed polyolefin plastic are available.

All finished Drug products/Medicine should be identified by labelling, as required by the national legislation, bearing at least the following information:

1. The name of the drug product;
2. A list of the active ingredients (if applicable, with the International Non-proprietary Names (INNs)), showing the amount of each present, and a statement of the net contents, e.g. number of dosage units, mass or volume.
3. The Batch number assigned by the manufacturer.
4. The expiry date in an uncoded form.
5. Any special storage conditions or handling precautions that may be necessary.
6. The directions for use, and any warnings and precautions that may be necessary.
7. The name and address of the manufacturer or the company or person responsible for placing the product on the market.

Special Note - Legal regulations require comprehensive information on pharmaceutical products. Frequently, this has to be available in multiple languages. Clinical trials, which are usually conducted internationally, also require detailed descriptions in the respective local language. With Pharma-Multi-Inform, Specialty labels for product marking that can save an extra package insert—as a multi-page booklet or multi-layer film label. All product variants offer sufficient space for multilingual information on the drug and its administration. The multi-page labels are developed specifically for each application and are suitable for primary or secondary packaging.

For any enquiry related  to Functional Pharma Labels - email us at- info@packagingconnections.com or growth2@packagingconnections.com

At Huhtamaki we want to do more. Our aim is to be a pioneer of sustainable packaging solutions.

New corrosion inhibitor (VCI) bearing wrap from Daubert Cromwell has an embossed texture that grips, stays in place a

Products that are transported for a longer period of time or stored for an extended length are often in need of corrosion protection. Corrosion protection packaging prevents corrosion without having to treat the metal with oil, grease or paint.

Whether you’re a brand manager, SME business owner, CEO of an enterprise, or a business looking to innovate, paper-based packaging (such as corrugated cardboard or hexacomb) is the future of the packaging industry. 

We believe replacing Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) with sustainable paper-based packaging is the most effective way of protecting your products whilst protecting our planet.

As well as being 100% sustainable, paper-based packaging can provide optimal levels of strength, protection and insulation to meet any challenges across the supply chain.

Why we need a sustainable alternative to EPS Packaging

Expanded Polystyrene is 100% non-biodegradable in nature, it’s also unsustainable as it's created using fossil fuel petroleum. After the construction industry, the packaging industry is the second largest user of EPS. According to the European Manufacturers of EPS*, below is what happens when EPS packaging reaches end-of-life and becomes waste.

• 35% incinerated
• 32.7% landfilled
• 32.3 % recycled

However, it is often debated whether EPS is actually recycled or simply downcycled (grinded or melted into other products) because as at some point, it will end up in landfill or incinerated as it is not biodegradable.

* Source: EUMEPS (European Manufacturers of EPS) publication “EPS recycling in Europe”, 2018

For these reasons, countries around the world such as Australia, Costa Rica, and Belgium have begun banning its use with many more countries starting to begin the phaseout of EPS.  

Rather than waiting for Governments to ban it, make the choice to switch to more sustainable solutions now.  Show your customers you care about the environment by replacing EPS replacement with paper-based packaging.

We believe paper-based packaging is the future

Sustainable paper-based packaging boasts all the benefits of EPS, without any of the non-biodegradable downsides.

Paper-based packaging is made by nature in a sustainable way (renewable), reused/recycled until resource is worn out (without negative climate impact), and whatever waste disappears back into our biosphere, it never contaminates (biodegradable)

Whatever your packaging needs, paper-based packaging can provide the strength and protection you need for all products. Help position your brand as environmentally conscious and appeal to the increasing numbers of consumers who count sustainability as an important consideration in their purchasing decisions. 

Your paper-based packaging will be recyclable, renewable, biodegradable, and is officially the world’s most accessible recycled material.

EPS Packaging vs Corrugated Packaging

This 60 second video shows how corrugated cardboard compares to EPS when it comes to TV packaging and the unboxing experience it provides. You’ll see that some of the unboxing benefits include improved consumer perception, easy removal and handling of the product as well as packaging that is foldable and recyclable. 

EPS replacement success stories

Across the entire packaging industry consumers are embracing the innovation of EPS alternatives such as cardboard and carton. Smurfit Kappa is at the forefront with our Better Planet Packaging initiative which seeks to make a positive impact on billions of supply chains and consumers around the world by reducing the environmental footprint of packaging and its traces on the planet. We’ve helped brands switch their packaging for millions of products to a more sustainable solution that has proved to offer tangible benefits that go beyond the eco-friendly credentials. 

EPS alternative for protective packaging (Buffers)

Whether packaging white goods, electrical products or fragile ceramics, paper-based buffer packaging is leading the way when it comes to offering a sound and sustainable alternative to EPS packaging.

Paper-based buffers, available in corrugated cardboard and Hexacomb (or in combination) are designed to provide optimal levels of strength and protection to meet any challenges in the supply chain.

Paper-based buffers are a great option for consumers as they can be recycled in the regular kerbside cardboard recycling system.

EPS alternate for Pizza discs

Smurfit Kappa have worked with retailers and industrial pizza producers to develop a food safe, 100% recyclable and biodegradable alternative to polystyrene pizza discs. 

Our paper-based pizza discs with a food grade barrier coating provide an environmentally friendly alternative to polystyrene as they are 100% recyclable and biodegradable and are made from a renewable resource. 

To date we have already converted more than 250m pizza discs from polystyrene to more sustainable corrugated cardboard pizza discs.

EPS alternative for insulated packaging - ThermoBox

ThermoBox is a sustainable paper-based alternative to EPS packaging for keeping frozen and chilled goods fresh throughout the supply chain. Made from a 100% paper-based combination of Hexacomb and corrugated, ThermoBox provides similar insulation properties to expanded polystyrene (EPS) boxes.  For products that need to be temperature controlled, ThermoBox is therefore sustainable alternative to EPS as it is made from a renewable resource, recyclable and biodegradable.

EPS alternative for Fish Boxes

The insulating properties has for many years made EPS the obvious choice of packaging material for the transportation of the fresh fish. However recent changes in environmental laws and more environmentally conscious consumers means the fish industry now needs to switch to more sustainable packaging.

Our paper-based fresh fish packaging is changing the fishing industry. Made from corrugated board and with a water-resistant protective paper, fresh fish chilled by ice or another cooling agent, can be transported across the supply chain maintaining a consistent temperature.

In addition to fish packaging being more sustainable , it also saved nearly 83% in storage space compared to EPS packaging. 

Switching from EPS packaging to paper-based packaging

If your business is considering making the switch from EPS Packaging to EPS Replacement packaging such as corrugated cardboard or Hexacomb, Smurfit Kappa is here to help.

We can help you meet consumer demand and boost sustainable brand awareness with our innovative, sustainable packaging solutions.
 

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Smurfit Kappa’s Townsend Hook paper mill in the UK has introduced a new state-of-the art drying process innovation to

In the industrial and petrochemical industries, these steel drums contain hazardous and high value chemicals.

The topic of child-resistant packaging is becoming increasingly important.

TekniPlex Healthcare, which utilizes advanced materials science expertise to help deliver better patient outcomes, wi