A group of food, beverage and packaging giants has come together to collaborate with the Scottish government to help boost packaging recycling and provide partnership support for waste reduction and anti-littering programs.
The Packaging Recycling Group Scotland (PRGS) aims to assist Scotland in raising recycling awareness while increasing recycling rates and quality. Supporters include Coca-Cola Enterprises, TetraPak, Britvic, Red Bull and the British Plastics Foundation.
“We have strong support — almost 30 organizations now — with a collective desire to work more closely with key bodies on these objectives,” said PRGS coordinator Ian Shearer. “PRGS is well-positioned to harness the expertise and enthusiasm for progress presented by an unprecedented coalition of market-leading manufacturers, suppliers, retailers and trade organizations — representing businesses large and small — with a proven track record of supporting Scottish recycling.
“With its Zero-Waste ambitions and 2025 recycling targets, the Scottish government is sending out a clear message that this is a priority,” Shearer added. “There is now an opportunity for government and Zero Waste Scotland to forge a distinctly Scottish new partnership model to help leave a sustainable legacy for future generations, building on the significant progress and innovation in recycling of the last 10 years. PRGS is committed to supporting such an approach.”
In other packaging news, Carlsberg announced in January that it had joined a group of global suppliers to develop the next generation of packaging products that are optimized for recycling and reuse, otherwise known as “upcycling.” With this initiative, Carlsberg aims to have new products undergo an assessment for upcycling potential using a Cradle-to-Cradle® analysis, which will reveal if the products contain any chemicals or additives that would reduce the value and quality of the materials. The targets are to include 15 partners and to have a minimum of three products Cradle-to-Cradle® certified by 2016.
And last week, HP announced it has teamed up with global packaging company YFY Jupiter for a new initiative that will use straw waste to create packaging material for its products. Benefits of the new packaging include:
- The process to create this packaging uses up to 40 percent less energy, 90 percent less water, emits 25 percent less CO2 than traditional methods;
- Since the packaging is lighter than wood-based molded pulp, it will cost less to ship.
- The initiative has created 383 new jobs at YFYs China facility.
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