Zotefoams’ ReZorce barrier packaging, introduced at the end of last year, has been named a winner in the Sustainability (Overall Concept) category of the highly regarded German Packaging Award. The concept was then heralded as an innovation that would revolutionise the beverage carton industry, and it is now starting to fulfil that promise.
Beverage cartons and cardboard packaging are multi-layered, multi-material structures that can be difficult to recycle if the requisite infrastructure is not available. Lined with plastic or aluminium barrier materials, beverage cartons can be separated into fibres and what is known as PolyAl. The issue is the impossibility of separating the aluminium and plastic barrier layers.
The ReZource carton eliminates the problem of multiple materials. As the judges said: “The packaging is made of mono-material HDPE. A patented technology enables a layer to be created during extrusion, which provides barrier properties that can even allow the use of 30-70% mechanically recycled HDPE. ReZorce has been proven to reduce environmental impacts such as water and energy consumption by around 50% compared to conventional composite beverage cartons. This makes this new packaging worthy of an award in the area of sustainability.”
This news comes in the same week that ReZorce has been shortlisted in the Product Innovation Award category at the Reuters Sustainability Awards 2024. The winners will be announced at a ceremony in London on 1 October.
ReZorce beverage cartons, currently the subject of a Joint Development Agreement between Zotefoams and Refresco, perform the same as, or better than, standard composite liquid packaging board cartons, with the added distinction of delivering a significantly lower environmental impact. To ensure a straightforward transition for retailers, brand owners, manufacturers and consumers, it is compatible with all existing infrastructure in packaging technology, waste collection and sorting. Further, its patented multi-layer structure enables recycled plastic to be incorporated within its core, in line with targets set out in the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulations (EU PPWR).
Zotefoams, in partnership with Refresco, expects to conduct in-market trials of ReZorce for a major European retailer in the coming months, as a precursor to full commercialisation.
Neil Court-Johnston, President of Zotefoams’ MuCell Extrusion business unit, said: “Our team’s mission has been to develop a more sustainable, circular beverage carton as an alternative to the existing composite material and we are absolutely delighted that the judges of the German Packaging Award have recognised this.
“Achieving circularity – where products are recycled back into the same or similar items – is key to the sustainability of consumer packaging and we have been able to demonstrate that this is achievable at scale with ReZorce.”
The German Packaging Award is an international, cross-industry and cross-material competition and widely hailed one of the top awards of the packaging industry. Every year, the German Packaging Institute (dvi) honours innovative and creative packaging ideas, via a jury of experts from business, research, education and the media. The award ceremony and announcement of the Gold Award winners will take place at Fachpack on 24 September 2024.