Ahead of this year’s Sustainability Awards, we spoke to finalist Henkel about its entry in the Commercialized Driving the Circular Economy category - an rPET film for blister packaging made from unused PET blisters and trays from household waste.
You’re a finalist in the Sustainability Awards 2024. Congratulations! To start off, could you summarise your entry, in less than 50 words?
High-quality PET, used for example in berry packaging or blister packs, is currently incinerated. We could not accept this. We have built our own value chain from waste collection to blistering - to show that circular blisters are possible on a commercial scale.
Why do you think the judges were impressed with your entry? Tell us about what is innovative about your project and/or about its impact on packaging sustainability.
It’s easy to call for high quality rPET sources as a brand owner – but going into waste sorting yourself for trials and committing to purchase quantities for an unspecified material source is walking the talk. We optimised the full value chain with state-of-the-art technology: sorting, hot wash and extrusion.
At Henkel, we see ourselves as pioneers, but we cannot get the Tray-2-Tray material cycle rolling on our own. Recyclers need a return on their investments! Our nomination is a clear signal: the time to use rPET tray flakes in high-quality packaging is now.
Finally, can you tell us about the ongoing development of your project, e.g. how your innovation/initiative has been received by industry, or the next steps in commercialization/product development?
We started with a pilot scope of 20 tonnes of plastic saved from incineration. We are proud to announce that, thanks to our partner PETMan, we are using Tray-2-Tray flakes permanently in our portfolio. We welcome similar projects from like-minded companies across the value chain to further drive the PET Tray-2-Tray cycle.
The winners of the Sustainability Awards 2024 will be announced at the Sustainable Packaging Summit, taking place in Amsterdam on 12-13 November. The Summit mobilizes leaders of the FMCG value chain, policymakers, NGOs, recyclers and investors to collaborate, remove barriers and identify opportunities on the road to sustainable transformation.
To learn more or register, visit: https://www.packagingsummit.earth/2024
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