Page 3 - Packaging News May-June 2021

May-June 2021 | www.packagingnews.com.au
| COMMENT 3
Collaboration makes the circle go round
AS our industry’s pursuit of a circular economy gathers momentum, it is patently clear that delivering a fully circular solution for any packaging material is not a solo venture. Nor is it for the faint-hearted. It requires vision, foresight, tenacity, and huge dollops of faith when the going gets tough. And of course, you need to have the right voices at the table from the outset of a project to bring the requisite science, expertise, technol- ogy, and the all-important funding to the party.
In recent months, the Australian packaging industry has seen some remarkable projects come to fruition that demonstrate, in the most con- vincing fashion, how the meeting of minds from industry, academia and government can make the seemingly impossible happen.
The Australian-first, prototype,
recycled KitKat wrapper is a standout example (see page 16). Here we wit- nessed how nine companies across the packaging, energy and recycling industry harnessed their collective expertise and in an incredibly short time – four months from idea to pro- duction – developed a circular model for soft plastics.
Shortly after the launch I spoke to Nestlé’s Jacky Nordsvan and Amcor’s Richard Smith on The PKN Podcast, both of whom were closely involved in the project. It soon became clear that the most impressive thing was not the science and technology behind the recycled wrapper’s pro- duction (and let’s face it, that is awe- inspiring). Rather, it was the open- minded, collaborative spirit of participants across the value chain, all prepared to think differently, to face seemingly insurmountable chal- lenges with an overriding will to make it happen.
Not all projects progress as quickly, and that’s where persistence comes into play. A case in point is a more recent example of collaboration for circularity, so fresh in fact it hasn’t made it into the pages of this issue (although of course you can read more on packagingnews.com.au).
Four years in the making, we now have a patent-pending smart-sensing process that will enable recycling companies to produce 100 per cent recycled high density polyethylene (HDPE) by eliminating the label adhesive contaminant that currently remains on the plastic flakes when HDPE milk bottles are recycled.
The project has brought together players from industry – Labelmakers Group, Bega, Lactalis, and Saputo – in collaboration with researchers from three leading universities in NSW under the ambit of the NSW Smart Sensing Network, and funded by the NSW government.
Still in trial but well on the way to being developed into a scalable tech- nology for the circular use of HDPE in packaging, it stands as yet another example of how we can come full cir- cle together.
Lindy Hughson
Managing Editor & Publisher
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It was the open-minded, collaborative spirit of participants across the value chain, all prepared to think differently, to face seemingly insurmountable challenges with an overriding will to make it happen.”