Flexible packaging powerhouse aligns with key circular economy goals and objectives
Canadian Packaging
Sustainability Constantia Flexibles EcoCover EcoLam Ecolutions EcoPouch New Plastics Economy Global Commitment80 per cent of end consumers prefer eco-friendlier packaging over regular packaging
Constantia Flexibles, the world’s fourth-largest producer of flexible packaging products and a signatory to The New Plastics Economy Global Commitment agreement championed by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, has announced plans to make all of its packaging products 100-percent recyclable by 2025.
“As a global flexible packaging producer and a company committed to sustainability from the very beginning, we have of course recognized the importance of actively contributing to the circular economy,” says Constantia Flexibles chief executive officer Alexander Baumgartner.
“Taking part in the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment is one aspect of our strategy for more sustainable packaging,” says Baumgartner, whose company is one of 250 global organizations to have signed the Global Commitment treaty unveiled on Oct. 29, 2018, at the foundation’s Ocean Conference in Bali, Indonesia.
One of the most important targets of the Global Commitment vision is transitioning from linear to circular packaging models, whereby participating companies and organizations have made the commitment to
focus on developing packaging innovations which ensure easy and safe reuse, recycling or composting.
“To achieve these goals, we are focusing on those products which are already currently recyclable in practice and at scale,” says Thomas Greigeritsch, the company’s vice-president of group sustainability.
As Greigeritsch explains, the company’s new Ecolutions line of packaging products was developed specifically to meet these and other sustainability requirements, while offering all the properties required protecting the packaged products.
For example, the company’s EcoLam mono PE (polyethylene) laminate is already fully recyclable due its mono-material structure, while its EcoPouch flexible packaging is made with a high content of
renewable resources.
For its part, the company’s ultra-thin EcoCover aluminum lidding offers 50-percent carbon-footprint reduction compared to traditional aluminum lids, according to Constantia, through lightweighting and the use of a solvent-free UV flexo printing process.
According to Constantia, the product is characterized by high corrosion resistance, a wide range of sealing temperature and easy peeling properties—making EcoCover the perfect lidding choice for yogurt cups and many other food and pharma products.
“These are just some of our solutions aimed at making our packaging, including our plastic packaging, 100-percent recyclable,” states Greigeritsch.
“The real question is not whether a world without plastic pollution is possible,” he says, “but what we will do together to make it happen.”
According to a recent consumer survey commissioned by Constantia Flexibles, 80 per cent of end consumers prefer eco-friendlier packaging over regular packaging, and would pay up to 15 per cent more for recyclable and compostable packaging.
Says company president Baumgartner: “Our packaging line for more sustainability will continue to be extended. At the moment, we are already working on compostable solutions for small packaging products such as stick packs, which can hardly be efficiently recycled due to their tiny size.”
Advertisement
