Siegwerk and Enplater Group received the Labels & Labeling Sustainability Award for a mono-material polypropylene pouch at LOUPE Americas 2026 in Chicago in September. The companies designed the food packaging structure to support recycling in existing polyolefin streams where collection, sorting and recycling infrastructure is available.
The pouch combines a high-barrier mono-PP structure with inks and coatings developed for flexible packaging. Siegwerk and Enplater said their teams worked together on the project, drawing on Siegwerk’s ink and coating development and Enplater’s converting capabilities. The companies position the structure as an alternative to multi-material packaging and as a response to design-for-recycling requirements.
The construction uses Siegwerk’s CIRKIT OXYBAR WHITE, which combines an oxygen barrier and white ink in an inline application step. It also uses polyurethane-based ink systems intended to provide print quality and adhesion in flexible packaging applications. The source announcement does not provide comparative barrier data or results from recycling trials.
“From a flexible packaging perspective, mono-PP structures create an option for improving recyclability without compromising packaging performance,” said Jarred Carter, Siegwerk’s business unit head for flexible packaging in the United States and Canada. He said the project combines inks, coatings and converting expertise to meet functional packaging requirements.
Todd Blumsack, Siegwerk’s business unit head for narrow web in the United States and Canada, accepted the award on behalf of both companies. The award recognises packaging developments aimed at improving sustainability across the value chain.
For food brands and converters, the proposed recycling route depends on local infrastructure. The announcement identifies the pouch as recycle-ready but does not specify the foods it has been used to pack, production volumes or markets where collection and recycling are available.