Greiner Packaging partners with SABIC to create first bouillon packaging made from circular polymer for Unilever

These days, plastic packaging manufacturers are faced with ever increasing demands to incorporate more sustainable and more recycled materials, such as r-PP. For the first time, Greiner Packaging has now teamed up with global petrochemical leader SABIC and brand owner Unilever in a pilot project to produce tubs and lids for Knorr^TM bouillon powder that are made from 100 percent certified circular PP from postconsumer plastic material. The new solution is already on the market.

Kremsmünster, Austria, December 2020. Greiner Packaging has already been testing various recycled materials for some time to determine their suitability for the production of its cardboard-plastic combinations. Now, the company has selected certified circular polypropylene from SABIC’s TRUCIRCLE^TM portfolio to realize a test project for Unilever. SABIC’s material uses post-consumer mixed plastic as feedstock which is broken down into its molecular building blocks, to create virgin plastics which are then used to produce these new recyclable tubs and lids.

The goal is to produce about 1 million Knorr^TM bouillon powder packages for Unilever from 100 percent circular polymer. As the availability of circular polymers will grow in the future, the number of circular tubs will grow alongside.

Knorr^TM bouillon powder has now been marketed in the same cardboard-plastic combination for many years. The outer appearance, functionality and safety of the new packaging is exactly the same, and the quality is likewise as high as ever. The difference is that it is made using recycled plastic, making it much more sustainable and environmentally friendly. Nothing has changed from the consumer’s perspective, in other words, and they can still simply remove the cardboard sleeve from the actual tub when the packaging is empty before disposing of the two components as usual. “Our goal is to continue making our packaging more environmentally friendly together with partners like Greiner Packaging and SABIC – especially in the food segment – without consumers having to lower their standards in terms of design, performance, quality, user friendliness, and food safety. We are now testing this using material produced from 100 percent circular polymer, with the goal of expanding across our portfolio by 2025,” says Mike Ross, Senior Packaging Manager at Unilever.

The certified circular PP polymer from SABIC’s TRUCIRCL^TM portfolio is produced through the feedstock recycling of used and mixed plastic that could otherwise be destined for incineration or landfill. Difficult to recycle used plastic is broken down and taken back to the molecular level by heating it at a high temperature in an oxygen-free environment, producing pyrolysis oil. The pyrolysis oil then enters SABIC’s production chain just like fossil-based feedstock to deliver new materials in compliance with strict quality requirements, such as the hygiene standards for food packaging. The resulting PP polymer is verified and authenticated under the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC PLUS) scheme, which uses a mass balance approach. Greiner Packaging sees chemical recycling as an ideal supplement to mechanical recycling.

The new Knorr^TM bouillon powder packaging is made from certified circular version of SABIC FLOWPACT PP impact copolymer that is phthalate-free, safe for food contact while offering robust performance for high stackability and easy processing. The ISCC PLUS accredited material is a dropin solution for replacing fossil-based plastics in the packaging industry without compromising product purity and food safety.

Knorr^TM bouillon powder comes in K3^®-F packaging, which is supplied to Unilever as separate plastic tubs and folded cardboard sleeves. The sleeves are unfolded by a machine and slipped over the tubs directly before filling at the company. This process is especially suitable for global brand manufacturers like Unilever who offer their product in various markets or under different brands and therefore work with a wide range of decoration solutions. This gives them a high degree of flexibility in terms of the design and keeps stocks to a minimum. Plus, the packaging is perfectly stackable, which saves space during transport, as well as making this process more sustainable.