Page 36 - Packaging News Magazine Jan-Feb 21

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SUSTAINABILITY | FMCG PACKAGING www.packagingnews.com.au | January-February 2021
METALLISED PACKAGING CAN BE RECYCLED INTO STEEL
A scientific research collaboration between Nespresso Australia and the UNSW Smart Centre says metallised packaging such as chip packets and spent coffee capsules can be recycled for steel making.
The research was conducted as part of the ARC Green Manufacturing Research
Hub hosted by the Smart (sustainable materials, research and technology) Centre. The research looks to provide a boost to Australia’s aluminium recycling and smelting sectors.
Professor Veena Sahajwalla, director at Hub and Smart Centre, said the finding brings to an end the Green Manufacturing Research Hub after five years, and will be subject to further investigations from Smart, with support from Nespresso.
“For the first time, we have demonstrated that using waste food packaging containing aluminium, such as chip packets and spent coffee capsules, can become a useful resource in the steelmaking process,” Sahajwalla said.
Marta Fernandes, technical and quality manager Nespresso Australia and Oceania, said, “This collaboration aligns with Nespresso’s commitment to circularity, and looking for ways to help keep waste materials in use for as long as possible.
“It demonstrates our existing investment in building a local recycling scheme that has enabled all of our customers in Australia, both residential and business, to recycle their used Nespresso aluminium capsules via 19,000 collection points, with four different options to make it as easy as possible for customer to recycle.”
SCHWARZKOPF, TERRACYCLE PARTNER FOR RECYCLABLE PACKS
Schwarzkopf Australia has entered an exclusive partnership with TerraCycle to ensure all its retail hair care, hair colour and hair styling products and packaging nationwide are recyclable. The move goes towards the company achieving its goal of ensuring all its packaging is 100 per cent recyclable by 2025.
The Schwarzkopf Australia TerraCycle initiative – Schwarzkopf Cares – will accept hair care product packaging including trigger heads, pumps, tubes, caps and tubs; hair product aerosols including hair spray, mousse and dry shampoo; and hair colour products including bottles, pumps, sachets, gloves, plastic stirrers and tubes.
The initiative will also accept and recycle all retail competitor hair care products, with the potential to divert up to 147 million units of hair products from landfill.
“We believe that partnerships such as this are key to our sustainability journey and look forward to growing our sustainability initiatives within [Schwarzkopf parent company] Henkel Beauty Care Retail ANZ,” Henkel Beauty Care Retail general manager ANZ Peter Rigby said.
“Sustainability is a key pillar of what we do at Schwarzkopf and we’re focused on continuing to take the right steps forward to design for sustainability.”
ENDLESS BOTTLE SUSTAINS NATURES ORGANICS NEW PACKS
With a focus on long-term sustainability, Natures Organics has released a new “endless” bottle design for its OC Naturals Hand and Body wash range that is 100 per cent recyclable.
After noticing a continual decrease in the clarity of the recycled PET used in its packaging, the company began researching alternative options for packaging their products. This decision was also made in response to the growing number of consumers who are conscious about the environmental impact of the products they purchase.
An additional problem the company had noticed with its earlier designs is that amber or black-tinted bottles, which contain carbon black pigment, are unable to be detected by sorting machines in the recycling process. As a result, they can’t be recycled into future bottles, effectively
interrupting the recycling loop.
The idea of an “endless bottle” is that
the bottle could be made using recycled plastics and then again be recycled to create new bottles.
The new bottle is made from 97 per cent recycled PET and does not contain any carbon black pigment, making it 100 per cent recyclable.