SABIC today announced that biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) film based on the company’s certified circular PP from feedstock recycling of used plastics will be introduced in primary pet food brand packaging by Mars, Incorporated, a global leader in confectionery, food, and pet food products. The BOPP film structures are manufactured by Huhtamaki, a key supplier of sustainable packaging solutions to customers around the world. The joint initiative will help the partners implement their ambitious targets of reducing the volume of fossil-sourced plastics and accelerate the transition to a more circular plastics economy.
“The littering of plastic packaging on our land and oceans is unacceptable, and at Mars we’re committed to adressing this problem,” says Barry Parkin, Chief Procurement and Sustainability Officer at Mars, Incorporated. “To do this, we need to reduce packaging we don’t need, redesign the remaining packaging to become circular, and invest to close the loop and help scale up recycling systems. Through our partnership with Huhtamaki and SABIC, we will test-and-learn, progressively increase the recycled plastic content in our packs, and ultimately help drive circular packaging systems.”
Following a successful pilot phase in 2020, Mars will incorporate certified circular PP polymer from SABIC’s TRUCIRCLE™ portfolio in the primary packaging of some of its popular pet food brands. The certified circular PP food-grade material is produced through the feedstock recycling of low quality, used mixed plastic that could otherwise be destined for incineration or landfill. It takes difficult to recycle used plastic back to the molecular level through a process called pyrolysis. This technology breaks down used plastic by heating it at a very high temperature in an oxygen-free environment, producing pyrolysis oil. SABIC uses pyrolysis oil coming from UK-based Plastic Energy’s proprietary advanced recycling technology that enters the production chain just like fossil-based feedstock to deliver new materials that can address strict quality requirements, such as certain hygiene standards for food packaging. The resulting PP polymer is verified and authenticated under the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC PLUS) scheme, which uses a mass balance approach. SABIC’s certified circular products from our TRUCIRCLE portfolio offer a carbon footprint reduction of 2kgs of CO2 for every kilogram of polymer produced based on the diversion of post-consumer used plastic from incineration.
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