In a new partnership, Indorama Ventures and AMB Spa aim to divert over 150 million post-consumer PET trays away from landfill or incineration by the end of 2025 by recycling them into film for food packaging trays.
At Indorama Ventures’ facility in Verdun, France, the company has reportedly been able to commercially produce rPET flakes from post-consumer trays. The resultant technology is set to supply PET flakes from post-consumer trays, which AMB will then use to produce food-grade transparent film.
It is hoped that the development will help AMB increase the recycled content sourced from trays in its end-products, assist in Indorama Ventures’ goal to achieve a circular economy for PET trays, and keep ‘millions’ of post-consumer PET trays out of landfill and incineration.
Indorama Ventures is also targeting a global increase in worldwide PET recycling rates and aims for a 750,000-ton post-consumer PET bale input every year by 2025. Meanwhile, AMB’S tray-to-tray recycling brand, ‘AMB TrayRevive’, seeks to establish infrastructure for recycled packaging and meet the EU’s target of making all packaging at scale for conversion into recycled raw materials by 2035.
“Consumers are mindful of sustainability and food safety and want a guarantee that the food trays they use are recyclable,” explained Paolo Cescutti, chief procurement officer at AMB. “The recycled material now possible through our partnership with Indorama Ventures means we can divert more plastic waste, to become safe, food-grade packaging.
“Food processors and consumers can be confident that AMB products offer true recyclability and food safety. We are proud to be one of the pioneers in bringing this to market with Indorama Ventures’ expertise.”
“Each new partnership with sustainable packaging leaders like AMB smooths the path towards a circular economy for PET trays and extends the PET lifecycle,” added DK Agarwal, Deputy Group CEO, and executive president of the Combined PET business segment at Indorama Ventures. “This means we use less raw materials while the process results in less waste and emissions.
“Indorama Ventures was one of the first to invest in PET food tray recyclability because we support the creation of a circular economy to prevent used products ending up in landfill and or being incinerated. Having developed the technical ability, we are excited to see this process gain traction.”
The announcement comes after Tesco and Faerch developed a ‘tray-to-tray’ PET recycling initiative in which recovered and recycled plastic food trays are incorporated back into its chilled ready meal packaging.
Additionally, Holmen Iggesund claims to have removed over 25% of plastic content from the previous design of its fibre-based, PET-coated ready-made meal tray with a new, 30-gsm version.
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