Recycled mono-PET HTS product range for the dairy market
Danish manufacturer of food packaging solutions Faerch is introducing its new Eco HotPro product family, a new circular mono-PET pot range for hot fill food applications, developed to allow high-temperature sterilisation (HTS).
High-temperature sterilisation is an important feature in many Dairy categories and requires packaging to withstand temperatures of up to 120 degrees. The new Eco HotPro Pot range is based upon Faerch’s proven and market-leading CPET technology, meeting these requirements whilst still being fully circular. Eco HotPro Pots are made from up to 75% of recycled post-consumer content, not compromising on food safety or any other functional property as the company states. After use, they can be recycled to new food grade products of the same quality in an endless number of life cycles.
PP has so far been widely used for high-temperature sterilisation in Dairy applications. However, like PS, for food safety reasons, PP products need to be made from 100% virgin material. Moreover, they can only be downcycled to non-food applications, contradicting the basic principles of a circular economy. PP and PS are increasingly affected by implemented legislation across Europe to support the transition towards circularity. Like in other countries, PP will be impacted by the plastic packaging tax taking effect by April 2022 in the UK, as it cannot meet the threshold of a minimum of 30% recycled content in direct food contact applications.
With the new Eco HotPro Pot product family, customers can choose from a wide range of shapes, cut sizes and colours including white. The material can also be combined with the unique, award-winning Evolve by Faerch concept, where no extra colours are added to the recycled content the pots are made from. This creates varying material colours, reflecting the specific blend of recycled content a pot is made from and allowing consumers to immediately recognise the circular nature of the packaging.
The launch of the Eco HotPro product range is part of Faerch’s wider product development programme to drive the transition of food packaging towards circularity. The company has launched a number of product ranges made from up to 100% post-consumer content, and the portfolio will be continuously extended in 2021 to additional applications. Faerch is increasingly substituting rPET generated from bottles by post-consumer content recycled from food trays to make this valuable resource pool accessible. The tray volumes Faerch have recycled in its integrated recycling facility in the Netherlands correspond to 25 million rPET trays per month, and the numbers are ramping up further.
