Coveris packaging supports Co-op’s recycling ambitions
New film packaging has been developed by Coveris to support supermarket Co-op’s recent announcement that it plans to have 80% of its own brand packaging recyclable by 2020.
The multilayer film with integral sealing capabilities enables current polythene lined packaging trays to be more easily recycled. The development follows news that two thirds of all plastic packaging used for consumer products in the UK is being sent to landfill or incineration, with only one third being recycled, according to Co-op figures. Only half a million of the 1.5 million tonnes of recyclable plastic waste created every year is being reused as intended.
As a strategic packaging partner to the Co-op, Coveris has been working closely with the retailer and its manufacturers to deliver more recyclable solutions using new materials and manufacturing technologies.
Developed at Coveris Winsford, the UK’s largest blown extrusion facility, technical engineers have worked to formulate a thin, multilayer, polyester barrier solution that enables plastic lidding film to be heat sealed direct to the packaging tray through integral capabilities within the material. Traditionally film is sealed to the pre-lined tray using a polythene (PE) bonding layer which currently makes the PET tray more unlikely to be recycled.
Printed and converted at Coveris’ Gainsborough site, the finished format offers a sustainable solution for tray packed products.
Iain Ferguson, Co-op’s environment manager, says, “The Co-op is delighted to see packaging manufacturers such as Coveris producing new developments that help us to achieve our ambition of making our packaging easy to recycle.”
