Designed to be a ‘recycle-ready’ refill pack for dry beverage products like instant coffee, Amcor’s new paper-based stand-up pouch claims to offer a 73% reduction in carbon footprint and meet consumer demand for recyclable refills.
The new pouch – launching first across the Europe, Middle East and Africa region – forms part of Amcor’s AmFiber Performance Paper portfolio. Due to its 85% fibre content, Cepi and Aticelca have certified the pack as kerbside recyclable in ‘several’ European countries.
After comparing the performance of an AmFiber paper pouch to a standard PET/ALU/PE pouch using the Recyda platform, Amcor concludes that the pack’s recyclability could help brands reduce their EPR fees by 70-90% in certain regions.
It has also used its Carbon Trust-certified ASSET life cycle assessment model to calculate that the refill pouch can the carbon footprint of dry beverage packaging by up to 73% – this includes a 71% reduction in non-renewable energy use and a 41% decrease in water consumption.
This comes in response to consumer demand for recyclable refill packaging, with Absolute Market Research data suggesting that 89% of shoppers consider the recyclability of refill packs ‘quite’ or ‘very’ important.
The AmFiber pouch’s ‘excellent’ seal integrity and barrier are set to preserve the taste and aroma of soluble coffee products, while its ‘robust’ bottom gusset is believed to optimize both functionality and presentation.
Additionally, it is said to be compatible with coffee brands’ existing machinery, and its lightweight, compact design is intended to streamline distribution.
“This newest addition to the AmFiber family offers coffee and dry beverage brands a more attractive packaging solution that has a natural, paper-based appeal and is recycle-ready,” says Giorgio Dini, marketing manager for Coffee at Amcor. “Helping to advance more circular refill packaging, we are proud to announce the AmFiber Performance Paper stand-up pouch, as we continue to innovate in paper-based solutions.”
In a similar development, Kenco, Douwe Egberts, and L’OR were among the JDE Peet’s coffee brands implementing ‘home recyclable’ refill packs into their UK and Irish retailer sales last January. Reportedly made of over 85% paper, these packs were believed to consist of 97% less packaging than the standard 200g glass jar and help minimize the brands’ packaging footprints.
Nestlé’s more recent efforts to design 95% of its plastic packaging for recycling – and to remove one-third of virgin plastics from its product lines – by 2025 include collaborating with external partners and suppliers in pursuit of high-barrier paper packaging for its coffee products, alongside other categories.
Other new developments from Amcor include its ‘recycle-ready’, mono-material AmPrima Flowpack Pro solution, which intends to reduce the bakery sector’s reliance on non-recyclable packaging. Compared to traditional packaging solutions, it claims to achieve a carbon footprint reduction of up to 82%, as well as reduce non-renewable energy use by up to 77% and water consumption by up to 89%.
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