The Tray2Tray project launched in 2020 by Klöckner Pentaplast (kp), a global leader in recycled content products and high-barrier protective packaging, continues to gain momentum. Since then, the share of the company’s post-consumer recycled content comes from trays has grown to 10%.
The initiative, which aims to create a closed loop for food packaging, has already been adopted at various of kp’s sites, where kp Tray2Tray PET flake is now used to produce trays and rigid films. Its pilot site in Pravia, Spain is already using up to 30% kp Tray2Tray flake in a range of its thermoformed products for protein – with qualified certification from RecyClass. Another five sites in the UK, Portugal, Spain and Germany are producing rigid films for form, fill and seal applications using kp Tray2Tray as part of their extrusion processes, with sister site INFIA also incorporating it into their processes and producing fruit punnets.
kp is now working to implement kp Tray2Tray in its operations at every site. The company is calling upon the industry to help drive the initiative further, creating separate recycling and sorting systems specifically for pots, tubs and trays to turn them back into more of the same.
The initiative has moreover gained two new prestigious awards in 2021 – Sustainable Supplier of the Year at the Footprint Awards, and Best Food Packaging in the Liderpack Awards, creating awareness of the initiative.
kp has been manufacturing fresh food packaging made with post-consumer recycled PET (rPET) for almost two decades, and is a major consumer of this raw material. National regulations, such as plastic taxes coming into effect in some countries means there is an ever increasing demand for recycled PET, especially from producers of food and beverage packaging. To meet this demand, it is essential to separate food packaging from bottle flake to meet demand.
“Our ultimate aim is to help build the new infrastructures and incentives to collect, sort and recycle, ensuring wherever we operate we will enable full tray to tray circularity,” said Adam Barnett, President Food Packaging.
In 2021, kp launched “Investing in Better”, a broad and ambitious sustainability strategy with ten time-bound and measurable long-term targets. The strategy is built around three main objectives: Close the Loop, Work Smarter and Act Responsibly. Under the Close the Loop objective one of the targets is that by the end of 2025, at least 30% of the post-consumer recycled material in their packaging will be from kp Tray2Tray material.