Europe’s consumers will soon enjoy more eco-friendly beverages through Sabic’s development of plastics from totally renewable feedstocks that pose no competition with the food chain.Through a partnership with liquid packager Elopak, Sabic’s ‘second-generation’ Certified Renewable Polyethylene coating will soon feature on cartons on shop shelves in Northern Europe.
Sabic claims to be the first petrochemicals company to be able to produce renewable, second-generation polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP). The products are certified under the ISCC Plus certification scheme and are made to the same high specification as existing PE and PP products.
Elopak will be the first company to offer beverage cartons with second-generation renewable coating to the European market. Sabic developed its renewable polyolefin product range last year.
“We are delighted to be playing a key role in helping Elopak come closer to its vision of creating the industry’s most renewable cartons,” said Rob Balk, segment leader extrusion coating, Sabic.
“Sabic is committed to sustainability, and we recognise its importance to Elopak and Elopak’s customers. Consumers are becoming more and more environmentally conscious and it is great to be able to support these values and offer innovative solutions.”
The renewable PE Sabic is supplying to Elopak – Sabic LDPE nExCoat5 – addresses the plastic packaging industry’s growing demand for high-performance extrusion coating films, said the manufacturer.
“The carton is the renewable choice for packaging of beverages, and with renewable polymers from Sabic, we are able to supply packaging which is virtually 100% renewable,” said Kristian Hall, director corporate environment at Elopak.
“This is a key milestone in our efforts to reduce the carbon footprint of our products. The carton already had the lowest carbon footprint among liquid food packaging, and with this we have strengthened that position. We have a vision to deliver products with zero net impact on the environment, and this is an important step towards that goal.”