Better Packaging Co’s world first recycled plastic bags

The Better Packaging Co says it has produced the world’s first mailer and poly bags using 100% recycled ocean bound plastic pollution.

03 November 2021

The Packaging Forum member announced through social media, on 2 November, it had developed the innovative bags made entirely from ocean bound plastic.

The company says it’s working with communities in some of world’s poorest and most polluted coastal regions to remove plastic pollution from their beaches and riverways before it reaches the ocean.

The poly bags are also recyclable through the Soft Plastic Recycling Scheme, have a 200% carbon offset and are traceable to source, The Better Packaging Co says.

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All Meadow Fresh one and two-litre milk bottles are now made using 30% recycled plastic.

26 October 2021

The company, which is owned by The Packaging Forum member Goodman Fielder and is one of New Zealand’s biggest milk traders, says the move to use recycled content in its bottles is a first for the country.

The bottles will be made using 30% rHDPE, reducing the amount of virgin plastic it uses for its bottles by 250 tonnes a year.

Meadow Fresh says the bottles are also “designing for recycling” as they don’t contain white resin – allowing them to be recycled into new plastic bottles and other food packaging.

The company is working to make all its packaging completely recyclable or reusable, and contain recycled content across its range of dairy products, by 2025 or sooner.

In January 2021 Meadow Fresh announced it’s entire New Zealand operation would move to 100% renewable electricity.

Read more at Stuff.co.nz

Mondelez’s transition to recycled packaging

Mondelēz International will now source recycled plastic for its range of Cadbury chocolate blocks sold in New Zealand and Australia.

17 September 2021

Advanced recycling technology has enabled Cadbury to source the equivalent of 30 per cent of the plastic needed to wrap Cadbury Dairy Milk family block range from recycled sources.

The volume of recycled plastic being used is enough for 50-million family blocks of Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate which – if laid end-to-end – would stretch from Auckland to San Francisco.

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Zespri launches new climate change strategy

Zespri has launched a new climate change strategy aimed at allowing it to lead the industry’s transition to a low-carbon, climate-resilient future.

1 September 2021

The strategy identifies the climate risks it faces, outlines the targets it has set, and the actions it is taking to invest for the future.

Read the strategy

Ecoware’s Compost Collect available in Christchurch

Sustainable food packaging company Ecoware has rolled out its Compost Collect programme to seven cities around New Zealand, with the most recent being Christchurch.
22 July 2021

The company has partnered with Canterbury Landscape Suppliers (CLS) and recently launched Compost Collect in the Garden City.

Their certified compostable packaging is collected in bins placed at customer stores, such as coffee shops, and composted at CLS for commercial sale.

Find out more here.

Sealed Air’s recycled plastic innovations

Packaging designer Sealed Air is leading the way in recycled plastic innovation with an innovative rollstock made from 90% recycled content and food-grade recycled polypropylene (PP).
15 July 2021

The company has developed PET/PE food-grade sustainable packaging which comprises 65% post-industrial recycled content and 25% post-consumer recycled content, and is recyclable through soft plastics collections.

For fresh protein and dry good sectors that use PET/PE or KPET/PE materials, this presents an opportunity to switch to materials that are uniquely more sustainable.  The solution meets the Australian Packaging Recyclability Evaluation Portal (PREP) compliance, and requires 90% less virgin resources to produce.

Sealed Air has also formed part of the global collaboration programme NEXTLOOPP, to create food-grade recycled polypropylene (PP) from post-consumer packaging.

According to Sealed Air, while PP is one of the most widely used plastics, it is downcycled to lower value (non-food) applications.

The NEXTLOOPP programme is already proving PP can be recycled into food-grade recycled packaging.

Read more about the work here.

Foodstuffs leads on single-use plastic product bag phase-out

Foodstuffs is trialing alternatives to single-use plastic produce bags during the month of July as it moves to lead in the upcoming plastics phase-out.
6 July 2021

The trial is part of the company’s commitment to Pledge 2025 – to make all its packaging recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025 – and comes after Government announced a phase-out of difficult-to-recycle plastics and some single-use plastic items between 2022 and 2025.

New World, PAK ‘n SAVE and Four Square customers can expect to see a range of reusable alternatives on offer such as multi-use bags, nylon bags, mesh bags, organic cotton bags, and collapsible crates.

Frucor Suntory intros new cardboard packaging

Frucor Suntory has introduced cardboard packaging for its multipacks of Pepsi, Pepsi Max, Mountain Dew and 7UP.
04 May 2021

The change is one of several the Australasian beverage company has undertaken to help achieve its sustainability goal of zero waste to landfill by 2030.

The cardboard replaces shrink wrap and will remove 2.7 million pieces of plastic from going to landfill each year as well as making it easier for customers to recycle the packaging.

Read more here.

DB Breweries aims for bold sustainability targets

DB Breweries has set a list of ambitious sustainability targets alongside the launch of its 2020 Sustainability Report.
03 May 2021

The company has announced it aims to use only energy from renewable sources, reach zero waste to landfill in production, and balance all of the consumed volume of water it uses, by 2030.

Read more at dbsustainability.co.nz

Dole cuts back on Bobby Banana packaging

Dole has introduced new packaging for its Bobby Bananas which will reduce the amount of plastic going to landfill by some 16 tonnes.
25 March 2021

The new packaging was featured recently in FMCG magazine.

The new tape on the bananas can also be dropped off with other soft plastic at Soft Plastic Recycling Scheme drop off points.

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