PETpla.net Insider 01+02 / 2021

MATERIALS / RECYCLING PETplanet Insider Vol. 22 No. 01+02/21 www.petpla.net 16 Organic yogurt in 100% rPET cups From cup to cup Starlinger viscotec, PET-Man and the dairy producer Biohof Zauner have together developed the fi rst white yoghurt cup made from 100% rPET, which can be recycled after use and made into a yoghurt cup again. Line for rPET sheet extrusion at PET-Man Christina and Leonhard Zauner are Austrian farmers and producers of organic dairy products; they market their products under the brand ‘Biohof Zauner’. The couple wanted to pack yoghurts in the most sustainable way possible, and unexpectedly became pioneers of rPET packaging. The rea- sons Christina and Leonhard Zaumer were looking at sustainable packag- ing were clear. “In the past, we sold our yogurt in glass containers. These are heavy and the washing is time- consuming and requires a lot of water and detergent,” Their requirements were clear, but none of the existing solutions met all of them, since “the packaging should be environmentally friendly, stable and lightweight. We wanted the packaging to be recyclable and to protect the dairy products from UV light - ideally, it is white.” Leonhard and Christina Zauner 100% recyclable In Europe, dairy products are cur- rently packed mainly in polypropyl- ene (PP) or polystyrene (PS), which according to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) cannot be reprocessed into recycled material for food contact. Strictly speaking, recy- cling these materials is “downcycling” rather than “recycling”. With rPET, Starlinger viscotec and PET-Man rely on upcycling. “For us, recyclable means that the same product can be made again after it has been used by the consumer and recycled.” Since there has been no packaging solution for yogurt which is recyclable accord- ing to food grade standards, they developed the fi rst white cup made from 100% rPET. Organic yogurt cups made from rPET and designed to be recycled again The new rPET cup is not just made from recycled material, it is also designed for recycling. This assures 100% recyclability and turns the cup into valuable input material for recy- clers after use. First, the consumer