Berry Global’s European flexibles division has increased its use of postconsumer recycled polyethylene (PE) by 36% year-on-year, the US-based plastic packaging manufacturer announced last week.
The double-digit increase was recorded across its industrial, consumer (non-contact sensitive), and agricultural film products. Berry incorporated an additional 4,386 tonnes of recycled PE into a variety of its flexible film products, including primary packaging applications such as Form-Fill-Seal and Heavy-Duty Sacks used in construction and chemical industries and Single-Wound-Sheet for horticulture, peat, and insulation products.
The recycled content was also incorporated in secondary and tertiary packaging, such as collation shrink films for the food and beverage sector and stretch wrap and stretch hood pallet protection films for logistics and transportation. Berry also increased the use of recycled PE into its agricultural stretch wrap.
“Our technical expertise in integrating recycled plastics, supported by substantial investments in our advanced recycling facilities in Steinfeld, Germany, and Heanor, UK, has allowed us to produce packaging solutions with increasing levels of recycled content, without compromising on performance,” said Tony Nawar, vice president and general manager of Berry’s European Flexibles Packaging Business.
This March, Berry announced it would increase the amount of recycled films produced at its Heanor, Steinfeld (Germany), and Zdzieszowice (Poland) plants by approximately 6,600 tonnes a year.
The move is part of a pan-European project to expand production of Berry’s Sustane range of recycled polymers, part of its BPI packaging solutions. The product line has diverse film applications, from bags and stretch hoods to shrink wrap. On its website, Berry introduces the range as a way to avoid the UK’s plastic tax on material that does not contain at least 30% recycled plastic.
The packaging manufacturer aims to achieve 30% recycled content options across all its European flexible films by 2025. That will place it well above the recycling content targets set out in the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR).
“As sustainability continues to shape the new packaging landscape, we are proud to work with our customers to deliver high-performance solutions that strike the balance between sustainability and functionality,” Nawar added.
Berry announced the increase in use of recycled content days before its planned acquisition by Amcor for $8.4 billion was made public.
The acquisition combines Amcor's global flexibles and regional containers businesses with Berry's regional flexibles and global containers and closures businesses.
Earlier this month, Berry also completed the spin-off of its Health, Hygiene, and Specialities division along with its films unit. Those businesses were combined with Glatfelter Corp. to create a new company called Magnera Corp.