Page 44 - Packaging News Magazine July-Aug 2020

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FLEXIBLES UPDATE | www.packagingnews.com.au | July-August 2020
Ecolean outlines eco ambitions
Lightweight flexible packaging developer and manufacturer Ecolean recently released its 2019 sustainability report.
THE report highlights the compa- ny’s use of 81 per cent renewable electricity at its packaging mate- rial production sites and filling line equipment manufacturing plant over 2019.
The report says the company aims to use 100 per cent renewable electricity by 2030, and Ecolean is committed to offering its customers a product range designed for recycling by 2025, fitting into present post-con- sumer recycling systems.
“Sustainability is present in every- thing we do,” Peter L Nilsson, CEO at Ecolean, says.
“We know that our customers and others in the industry closely monitor our high level of commitment and sus- tainability progress as an industry leader within lightweight packaging solutions. For example, the majority of the electricity used in all of our produc- tion and manufacturing plants during 2019 was derived from renewable sources, and this is only one of 12 objec- tives in our sustainability agenda.”
Ecolean said by being transparent
Sustainability is present in everything we do.”
– Peter L Nilsson
with the challenges ahead, it believes it can raise the bar for sustainability – not only within its own oper- ations, but also within the
entire packaging industry. It said it had set a goal to offer a new range of lightweight pack- aging designed for easy recy- cling before 2025.
The company also works to increase recyclability in existing recycling sys- tems by being involved in several recy- cling initiatives globally.
“We promote circularity for our packaging solutions and engage in efforts to ensure that our packages are well-suited for existing recycling pro- cesses,” Anna Palminger, sustainabil- ity manager at Ecolean, says.
“However, globally, many markets still lack adequate recycling systems and we work proactively through mem- bership in organisations such as CEFLEX in Europe, the New Zealand Soft Plastics Initiative and the REDcycle recycling programme in Australia.”
Palminger tells PKN a big challenge is the sorting systems. “For us, in our design we had to make sure that our packages would go through that pro- cess and end up in the right stream,” she says.
“But, there definitely needs to be more collection systems imple- mented globally. This is the biggest issue to solve our waste problems. There are a lot of countries around the world that don’t have access to waste management.” ■
CEFLEX: CIRCULAR ECONOMY FOR FLEXIBLES
CEFLEX is an organisation that aims to enhance the performance of flexible packaging in the circular economy. It is made up of a wide range of companies and associations that, together, represent the entire value chain of flexible packaging in Europe.
The organisation’s mission is to “further enhance the performance
of flexible packaging in the circular economy by designing and advancing
better system solutions identified through the collaboration of companies representing the entire value chain”.
By 2025, CEFLEX aims to establish collection, sorting, and reprocessing infrastructure. It is also working to develop an economy for post-consumer flexible packaging across Europe
based on end-of-life technologies and processes that deliver the best technical, economic, and environmental outcomes.
Ecolean’s sustainability manager Anna Palminger said the company had been part of the organisation since 2017.
“Being part of CEFLEX has been good; the organisation’s members have a tremendous amount of combined experience,” she says.
“It’s quite unique that so many companies that in many ways are competitors are working together to solve this issue to make sure more flexible packaging can be recycled.”