Greiner’s K3 packaging takes Design for Recycling a step further

The original K3 cardboard-plastic packaging solution was created nearly 40 years ago during an oil crisis, to reduce the amount of plastic being used. Dairy customers were the first to capitalise on its environmental benefits and added-value marketing features.

Through four decades of continuous development and improvement, K3 has been widely adopted by the international dairy industry, plus producers in the food-on-the-go, in-cup drinks and household products markets.

“Greiner Packaging is proud of the K3 packaging concept, which has been the subject of continuous improvement for 40 years,” said Jens Krause, Greiner Packaging K3 category manager.

“As we face the challenges presented by the need to achieve a circular economy, K3 becomes even more relevant and crucial to the success of brands which need to ensure they operate in the most sustainable ways.”

Conceived and developed as a more sustainable packaging solution, K3 combines a lightweight plastic cup with a removable cardboard outer wrap that, from the outset,  was designed to be easily separated from the plastic to enable recycling. Compared to a direct printed cup of the same size, the K3 cup saves up to 50% of the amount of plastic needed.

Step by step, Greiner is now working to further reduce the amount of plastic used, among others made possible by ongoing developments in the company’s thermoforming technology.

“Beyond being fully recyclable, the plastic used to make K3 cups can also be made from recycled materials,” said Krause. “Cups made using rPET are already on the market, and we have successfully trialled 100% mechanically recycled PS.“

Cardboard-plastic combinations have many advantages when it comes to sustainability. The cardboard wrap, which can be made from recycled material, lends sturdiness to the plastic cup so that it can be produced with particularly thin walls, significantly reducing the amount of plastic used. The wrap is easy to detach from the cup thanks to an innovative tear-off system, so that the two components can then disposed of separately and recycled. Since the white or transparent plastic cup is unprinted, it can be recycled very effectively. In addition, the carbon footprint of K3 cups is significantly smaller than that of alternative packaging solutions.

“Separating the cardboard wrap from the plastic cup currently requires action by consumers,” said Krause. “If they do so when discarding the used packaging, the cup will perform very well in the recycling process. However, if they don’t do that, the components will not always be correctly identified in the sorting system, making it difficult to correctly recycle the K3 packaging. As a result, in some countries, the cups are currently quite difficult to recycle properly.

“We have always wanted to address this situation and our packaging specialists have created a solution in which the cardboard wrap separates itself from the plastic cup during the waste collection process, and therefore before the packaging arrives at the NIR (near infrared) detection in the sorting unit. This innovative development – K3 r100 – make K3 cups substantially easier to recycle, with the cardboard and plastic assigned to the correct material streams during the initial sorting process before being recycled.

K3 r100 represents a major breakthrough, and we are currently focusing on extending our range of K3 r100 solutions, to include different cup sizes.”

While the best-case scenario is still for the consumer to separate the cardboard wrap from the plastic cup before disposing of the parts properly, the K3 r10to play an active in ensuring correct recycling. This new tear-tab prompted the Swiss Packaging Awards jury to describe the cup as  being “easy to see and use” and “self-explanatory”. Plus, the reverse of the cardboard wrap is the perfect place for brand owners to provide more information and engage with consumers.

“Our K3 r100 as already achieved some very positive scores. Cyclos-HTP has given K3 r100 (with a standard aluminium lid) a recyclability rating of higher than 90%. RecyClass has also issued K3 r100 its best rating (Class A) – the K3 cup was evaluated and certified in accordance with RecyClass recyclability standards and the Design for Recycling guidelines and received a Class A rating, indicating the top level of recyclability for a packaging item,” said Krause.

When it comes to new technologies, Greiner Packaging is among the first to test the value and viability of new technologies. Greiner is also a member of the HolyGrail 2.0 initiative, in which companies across the value chain are seeking to advance digital watermarking to change the way packaging is sorted to empower more efficient recycling.

Digital watermark technologies and the infrastructure for detection in recycling facilities are still in development, but Greiner Packaging has already produced promo cups for all its decoration technologies, which will be put to the test within the HolyGrail 2.0 digital watermarking initiative. The company has also developed an augmented reality app with ‘Talkin Things’ intended to involve consumers in the separation for recycling process of K3® cups.

“I’d like to add that K3 was designed to meet the requirements of sustainable packaging in terms of carbon footprint and remains one of the best solutions available,” concluded Krause. “With all the focus on recyclability it should not be forgotten that K3 delivers a wide range of functional benefits and that there’s more than circularity when it comes to an assessment for packaging.”