PETpla.net Insider 04 / 2019

8 NEWS PET planet Insider Vol. 20 No. 04/19 www.petpla.net L’Occitane and Loop Industries sign supply agreement The L’Occitane Group and Loop Industries announced the signing of a multi-year supply agreement for Loop branded 100% sustain- able PET. The agreement will see the L’Occitane en Provence brand start to incorporate Loop PET plastic into its product packaging as of 2022, enabling it to increase from its current 30% recycled plastic to reach 100% in its bottles by 2025 and place the Loop logo on all packaging containing Loop PET . As the demand for sustainable packaging solutions continues to grow, Loop Industries has emerged with transformational upcy- cling technology that allows plastic bottles and packaging, carpet and polyester textile of any colour, transparency or condition and even ocean plastics that have been degraded by the sun and salt, to provide brand owners a sustainable plastic product that helps solve the plastic pollution problem and meets FDA requirements for use in food-grade packaging. The L’Occitane Group says it is committed to limiting its impact on the environment at every possible step, from product formulation and sustainable packaging through to final product distribution. The company first introduced eco-refills in 2008 and currently proposes 15 eco-refill products. These not only use up to 90% less packaging than the original containers (representing a saving of 121 t in 2018), but also lower CO 2 emissions thanks to the reduced product transport. The group is working with specialised suppliers to design lighter pack- aging that prioritises recycled materials, and aims to increase its cur- rent 84% technically recyclable plastic in its bottles to 100% by 2025. https://group.loccitane.com E-book analysing the viability of using 100% recycled plastics Tomra Sorting Recycling has published an e-book examining the role that recycling can play in providing solutions to the world’s worsening resource crisis. It explores the technical feasibility and progress made towards 100% recyclability of plastics and highlights the opportunities of using high-quality recycled plastics for manufacturers of plastic products and packaging. The e-book points out that consumers’ concerns about waste bring opportunities for brands to dem- onstrate corporate social responsibility and build customer loyalty, to the benefit of their business results. New environmental targets and regula- tions across the world are putting the pressure on nations to improve their recycling rates. This will encourage investment and innovation in recycling, but more can be done now with the technologies that already exist. Tomra’s e-book explains how the significant progress in plastics recycling technologies, even for PET products, makes using 100% recycled plastics not only technically possible, but also economically worthwhile. The e-book begins by busting the misconcep- tion that PET packaging and products other than bottles can only be downcycled into inferior-quality products. In fact, PET bottle recycling has devel- oped massively and it is possible to manufacture other PET products – and PET trays in particular – from 100% recycled materials, making sense environmentally and commercially, states Tomra. The e-book highlights the progress being made towards 100% recyclability with technologies such as the Sharp Eye and Laser Object Detection (LOD) systems recently introduced. The publication - titled ‘The Viability of Using 100% Recycled Plastics’ - is downloadable free- of-charge at https://hubs.ly/H0gYzDN0 www.tomra.com Acquisition of RPC – Berry global trumps Apollo bid Berry Global Group, Inc. announced a recommended superior offer to acquire all of the issued and to be issued ordi- nary share capital of RPC Group Plc for 793 pence per share in cash. Aggregate consideration will be approximately £5.0 billion (US $6.5 billion), including refinanc- ing of RPC’s net debt. This offer trumps a former bid by Apollo Global Manage- ment who intended to buy RPC Group for £ 3.3bn (US $ 4.28 billion) in cash (782 pence per share). RPC is a leading international design and engineering company, providing plas- tic and recycled products for packaging and selected non-packaging markets with a focus on rigid and flexible packaging. The board of directors of RPC has unanimously recommended the superior offer by Berry. The proposed transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close early in the third quarter of calendar year 2019. www.berryglobal.com From left: Sarah Pricaz, VP International Marketing, David Bayard, Technical Packaging Director, Raphaelle Archambaud-Sicot, CSR & Sustainable Development Director, Nelson Switzer, Chief Growth Officer for Loop Industries, and Corinne Fugier-Garrel, Packaging Design & Concept Director.