Mono-material pasta packaging with PCR content made with SABIC’S circular PP

SABIC has announced the successful roll-out of another project as part of its TRUCIRCLE program to accelerate the implementation of a circular plastic economy. Garofalo, a major Italian pasta manufacturer, has introduced a novel packaging made by GT Polifilm and Polivouga using SABIC’s certified circular polypropylene (PP).

The sustainable material is derived from advanced recycling, and converted into a Biaxially Oriented PolyPropylene (BOPP) film for this application, which is the first mono-PP pasta packaging material in the market containing 30% of post-consumer recycled (PCR) content. Garofalo introduced the first pasta bags made from the new packaging to Italian stores in March 2023.

The PCR content in the bags is based on post-consumer used plastics, which is turned into pyrolysis oil in an advanced recycling process. At SABIC, the pyoil is used in the production of new polymers with the same specifications as virgin plastics from conventional feedstock.

Polivouga, a vertically integrated Portuguese manufacturer of flexible films for packaging products uses a SABIC PP 525PC grade from SABIC’s TRUCIRCLE portfolio of certified circular polymers to produce the basic BOPP film for the new pasta packaging solution.

Garofalo, a major Italian pasta manufacturer, has introduced new packaging made using SABIC’s certified circular polypropylene.

GT Polifilm, a specialist in the production of flexible polypropylene products for automated packaging in the food industry, adds a cast PP film to the BOPP film to create a mono-material structure, which is then converted to tailor-made pasta bags. Once used, the mono-PP bags can easily be recycled again in existing PP waste streams.

Abdullah Al-Otaibi, General Manager, ETP & Market Solutions at SABIC, stated, “For such solutions to work in the long-term, the partners in the material value chain must closely collaborate. With our TRUCIRCLE program, we are pushing for innovative business models to transform our industry from a linear to a circular one and help prevent the valuable material of end-of-life plastic applications from being wasted.”

SABIC’s circular materials are produced using a mass balance accounting scheme according to the International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC) PLUS program, which follows a set of predefined and transparent rules for tracking the material flow across complex supply chains from the feedstock to the final application.

While flexible plastic packaging is often the more sustainable alternative, a lot of food is packaged in paper/plastic combinations or laminates which are difficult to recycle and may have a bigger carbon footprint due to higher resource consumption.

As a more responsible solution, flexible mono-material with PCR content is potentially the preferred packaging route for a growing number of brand owners and retailers, while it is also supported by EU authorities and NGOs.