Greiner Packaging delivers 50% recycled Henkel toilet cleaner bottles
09 Jul 2020 --- Consumer goods company Henkel has introduced a 50 percent post-consumer recycled polyethylene (r-PE) bottle for its Pro Nature toilet cleaner range. Greiner Packaging is one of Henkel’s suppliers for the extrusion blow molded packaging, which also has convenience and ease of handling built into its design and a decorative sleeve. The two project partners have signed the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment launched by the UK-based Ellen MacArthur Foundation to replace fossil-based virgin plastics with the use of recycled plastics in packaging.
“We want to contribute to more sustainable packaging, both with regard to recyclability and increased use of recycled materials,” notes Michael Frick, Global Key Account Director at Greiner Packaging. “That’s why we are proud to support our partners like Henkel in implementing their innovative and sustainable projects along every step of the way. A true circular economy can only become a reality if everyone works together.”
“Henkel and Greiner Packaging have already implemented a number of innovative packaging concepts together. Our new Pro Nature bottle containing 50 percent recycled material is a shining example of Henkel’s activities to reach our goal to reduce 50 percent fossil-based virgin plastics by 2025.,” adds Abdullah Khan, who is responsible for Sustainable Packaging Laundry & Home Care at Henkel.
Last year, Henkel unveiled a fully recyclable black plastic bottle for its Bref products. The new packaging material – developed by specialist plastic supplier Ampacet – uses an alternative carbon-free black color masterbatch, enabling used bottles to be detected by recycling facility infra-red (NIR) optical sensors and integrated back into the value chain.
In collaboration with packaging manufacturer Alpla, Henkel also produced bottles using 100 percent chemically recycled plastic for the first time. Part of the ChemCycling project led by chemical producer BASF, Henkel will use the bottles as a pilot project for its Perwoll detergents. Through chemical recycling, mixed plastic waste that was previously impossible to recycle can be effectively reprocessed and reused.
In May, Henkel’s adhesives and coatings business expanded its RE range of recyclable packaging solutions with a newly launched heat seal coating which is certified as recyclable with paper. Loctite Liofol HS 2809-22 RE has already celebrated its first success in packaging Sofidel’s toilet paper, with food packaging options also possible.
Meanwhile, Greiner Packaging produced a 50 percent recycled polypropylene (rPP) cardboard-plastic solution for Henkel brand Persil’s 4in1 DISCS detergent. Through a patented tear-off system, the K3 cardboard wrap and plastic container can be easily separated and recycled. The reduction in plastic content reduces CO2 emissions, while the cardboard wrap maintains the container’s stability. The rPP is sourced from discarded household plastics. K3 solutions are suitable for a wide range of applications, including powdered foods, cereals and pet food.
Greiner Packaging, a prominent European plastic packaging manufacturer, is offering increasingly circular solutions to its customers, including more environmentally sustainable cardboard-plastic tear-off combinations, recycled PET (rPET) bottles, agro-based plastics and bioplastics. PackagingInsights spoke to Konrad Wasserbauer, Director Circular Economy for Greiner Packaging, about these latest solutions and the supplier’s ambitions to drive its circularity to new heights.
By Joshua Poole
