Elopak has launched beverage cartons featuring certified renewable polyethylene (PE) with renewable coating in Europe.
The company uses second generation renewable PE, made of European-sourced biomass not in competition with food supply.
It aims to replace all fossil-based raw materials with renewable alternatives as part of its ambitious Future Proofed Packaging Strategy.
“This is a key milestone in Elopak’s efforts to reduce the environmental footprint of our products. We have a vision to deliver products with zero net impact on the environment, and this is an important step towards that goal”, says CEO Niels Petter Wright.
With this move, Elopak is partnering customers wanting to boost the environmental merits of their packaging.
An increased use of bio-based PE helps reduce the use of fossil-based materials.
In addition, this reduces one of the largest sources of carbon dioxide emissions in the beverage carton value chain.
“The beverage carton is the environmentally superior packaging choice, consisting of at least 75% renewable paperboard derived from responsibly managed forests,” says Kristian Hall, Director Corporate Environment at Elopak.
“The remaining materials are mostly made of PE, a polymer usually produced from fossil-based raw materials. Renewable PE brings us much closer to our vision of a 100% renewable carton. At the same time, we are further reducing the carbon footprint of the carton.”
Bio-based plastics are generally made from crops; however in this case the renewable or bio-based PE is produced from biomass from second generation feedstock.
This is locally sourced within Europe and is not in competition with human food supply.
In addition, the bio-based PE is certified through the entire value chain, by the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification system (ISCC PLUS).
ISCC PLUS sets requirements for sustainability and traceability through the entire value chain, with chain of custody certification based on a mass balance system.
Elopak’s plants in the Netherlands and Denmark are certified according to the international standards of ISCC PLUS by the third-party auditing company TÜV Rheinland.
