Australian food manufacturers are backing a new scheme focused on keeping soft plastic out of landfill and utilising this for recycled soft food-grade plastic packaging, developed here in Australia.
The first series of the trials around this scheme occurred between the 7th and 13th of November 2022 in Victoria’s Macedon Ranges Shire Council, allowing households to easily recycle soft plastics such as ice cream wrappers, bread bags and cereal box liners.
These trials will aim to design a model for the large-scale collection and sorting of soft plastics within Australia.
CEO of Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC), who are running this trial, stated that the project aims to close the loop for soft plastic packaging, collecting it in order to create food-grade recycled packaging materials in Australia. This would be a major step as these materials can currently only be purchased from overseas.
The processing for this trial involves the soft plastics being taken to APR Plastics in Dandenong, where the material will be converted into oil which can then be used to make new plastics.
Packaging with recycled plastics
With this trial indicating the way forward, manufacturers can begin to consider using local recycled plastics in the future. Whether currently using imported recycled plastics or looking forward to using these locally recycled plastics, manufacturers will need to seriously consider how these will be utilised on their packaging machines.
As these materials are produced differently, they also react differently, meaning they will not directly adapt to current packaging machinery at the same efficiency. This is where solution providers such as Nupac and their partner Syntegon come in. As leaders in packaging machinery, Syntegon have a strong focus on sustainability and as a result, have the knowledge and the skills to ensure recyclable materials perform at the expected speeds and quality on their solutions.
Having a conversation with Nupac and Syntegon to ensure your packaging is operating at its optimal, especially with recyclable materials is a great way to ensure you are getting the most out of your processes.
Looking at what recyclable options are available and how you can implement them for your products?
Article of interest: What are the options for sustainable bagging?
Credit source: foodprocessing.com.au