Tag Archives: FDA approved recycled plastic

Embleton Hall Dairies to use new Inifini Milk Bottle Containing Food Grade Recycled HDPE

Editor’s Note: We ran across this article on Packaging Europe’s website, promoting the use of the Infini® milk bottle made with food grade recycled HDPE.  Food grade recycled HDPE is not currently used in milk bottle packaging in North America although FDA approved recycled HDPE is available in North America exclusively from Envision Plastics.  Our food grade recycled HDPE is marketed under the brand name EcoPrime™ and is suitable for packaging a broad range of food products including water, juices, yogurt drinks, coffee, tea, dairy creamers, cereal, nutritionals, syrups, condiments and many other products. 

Embleton Hall Dairies, based in Wingate, County Durham are launching the new 2 litre infini® HDPE recyclable milk bottle following extensive market research. Designed by Nampak Plastics, one of the UK’s leading plastic milk bottle manufacturers, infini® is the innovative next-generation, eco-friendly bottle.Infini-iPad-version1

Infini® has been designed to be lightweighted by up to 25% across the range without compromising strength, resulting in an initial weight reduction of 13% on the standard 2 litre bottle (33g vs 38g). Research has shown customers love its unique design and retailers love the combination of robustness and its environmental credentials.

When placed in the door of a fridge the handle position makes it easier for the consumer to remove the infini® bottle. The bottles are made of HDPE (High Density Polyethylene) and recycled HDPE (rHDPE). Every infini bottle contains up to 15% rHDPE. This recycled content will increase further in the future with a target of up to 30% by 2015.

HDPE plastic milk bottles are 100% recyclable and the consumer can recycle the infini® bottle in exactly the same way as a standard bottle. Also there is a carbon footprint saving over the standard bottle, resulting in approximately 75% of the research panel expressing their preference for the infini® bottle. The bottle achieved international industry recognition, picking up the top award in the ‘Best Dairy Packaging Innovation’ category at the Dairy Innovation Awards 2012, in addition to the World Packaging Organisation 2013 World Star Award.

Commenting on their change to the bottle, Paul Thompson, director of Embleton Hall Dairies said: “The design of milk poly bottles has remained unchanged since we started back in 1984, so we were very interested when Nampak approached us with a new design, in response to growing customer requests for a more environmentally-friendly form of packaging. That it improves bottle strength and reduces leakage rates is a massive bonus, and the results are good for both our customers and the environment”.

Carl Thorley of Nampak who worked with Embleton commented “Infini® is the result of a four year journey that my colleagues undertook in order to reduce the weight and carbon footprint of the standard milk bottle, but without compromising on its strength. It is ‘better by design’ and is playing an important role in helping the British dairy industry to meet its environmental targets and the support we have received from Embleton shows we are meeting the demands of the market.

More info:
http://www.nampak.com

Alpla to Produce Milk Bottles with 50% Recycled Content for Arla Foods

Arla Foods has appointed leading plastic packaging company, Alpla, to manufacture bottles on site at its new one billion-litre dairy in Aylesbury, and support Arla’s aim for the dairy to be the most environmentally advanced in the world.

Arla Foods Milk Bottles will Contain 50% Food Grade Recycled HDPE

Alpla, which is targeting an industry first recycled HDPE material content of 50 per cent in all bottles for Arla, will support the dairy company’s aim of delivering a zero carbon facility with zero waste to landfill in Aylesbury.  Alpla has already designed a new range of lightweight HDPE bottles, which will deliver a weight saving in excess of 20 per cent compared to Arla’s current milk bottles.

 
Lars Dalsgaard, director of supply chain at Arla, said: “The appointment of Alpla supports our sustainability strategy and commitment to become Closer to Nature. Alpla will blowmould and handle plastic bottles for Arla with the lowest energy consumption possible, which will assist our zero carbon ambition. It will also provide our customers with the lowest carbon fresh milk packaging available in the UK.”

 
Alpla will work at Aylesbury dairy through a ‘hole-in-the-wall’ operation. Although on site bottle production is currently used at a number of Arla’s other sites, this will be the first on this scale in the dairy industry. The new facility will be of the highest quality, and will have total flexibility, allowing Arla to react quickly to customer requirements in today’s challenging dairy market.

 
Guenther Lehner, CEO of Alpla global, said: “We’ve been working with Arla on this project over the last 18 months and it has been hugely challenging. Our continuous effort to develop plastic container manufacturing processes and packaging designs with utmost environmental and economic efficiencies in mind has resulted in Alpla being a perfect match for Arla in this exciting project. The whole Alpla team is looking forward to putting this ambitious concept into reality and to strengthening the close partnership between our two organisations.”

 
Alpla has considerable experience in the plastic bottle market, having in-plant facilities at blue chip companies all over the world (including five in the UK), as well as two stand-alone UK sites in Milton Keynes and Manchester, ensuring Arla has good supply contingency to support the company’s changing requirements.

 
More info: www.arlafoods.co.uk

Use of Recycled HDPE in Milk Bottles Expands in the U.K.

The Co-op invests in new eco milk bottles

11 April 2012

The Co-operative Food has become the first retailer to reduce the tint in all of its own-brand plastic coloured milk bottle tops, making it easier for them to be recycled into new bottles.

The Co-operative sells 202 million bottles of milk every year, and previously, the amount of recycled plastic that can be used to make new clear milk bottles was limited because bottle tops colour the material.

The move will mean that the retailer will potentially increase the recycled content of plastic milk bottles from 10% to 30% – helping to produce an extra 4,500 tonnes of recyclable material every year.

Iain Ferguson, environment manager for The Co-operative Food, said: “Protecting the environment is a key part of The Co-operative’s groundbreaking Ethical Plan, and we are proud to be leading the way with this initiative and that The Co-operative is the first UK retailer to complete this move on all of its own-brand milk bottles.“

Marcus Gover, director of Closed Loop Economy at WRAP, said: “We are pleased to see The Co-operative making this commitment to boost the recyclability of its own-brand milk bottles. WRAP research found that reducing the tint in milk bottle tops is a ‘quick win’ that can help achieve higher recycled content in milk bottles, thereby reducing the use of virgin plastic and ensuring more efficient use of resources, which is good news for the environment.”

Source: The Co-op

Plastics News Article Features Envision Plastics

Plastics News published an article on June 21 regarding Envision’s new recycled plastics wash line in Reidsville, NC.  Envision is installing the additional washing capacity to meet the growing demand for our FDA approved EcoPrime™ food grade recycled HDPE.  The article details our plans to significantly increase capacity at both our Reidsville, NC and Chino, CA plants.  You can read the full article at
http://www.plasticsnews.com/headlines2.html?id=22350&channel=296
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