This is a ketchup bottle from Kraft Heinz,
and this is its cap.
The company says it will soon be fully recyclable,
making the bottle fully recyclable.
Replacing this simple part supposedly took
45 prototypes and eight years.
That's according to the company,
all for a ketchup bottle cap.
This is the new world of packaging where companies are
reinventing their very first impression on customers,
all while ensuring that their new packaging works as well
as the old one.
Here's a look at the difficult decisions behind sustainable packaging.
Images like these are upsetting plastic trash in the ocean,
on land, in some cases plastics exported from wealthier countries
to poorer ones.
And in addition to being an eyesore,
plastic is a major climate problem,
primarily due to its fossil fuel based production
and it's packaging. That's the single largest source of plastic
demand.
Industry surveys show consumers want their products to be more
sustainable and to preserve biodiversity.
What sustainability does it It makes certain companies grow in
Galepavoadi has advised companies on sustainable packaging.
It makes those companies grow who can find applications where
their substrate is the better solution.
Experts say that for major brands like Kraft Heinz,
Nestle, or Amazon, however, it's often a burden they're spending
to replace one type of packaging with another without the
promise of more sales.
And it's not as simple as swapping out packaging.
For one, there are loads of different materials to choose
from.
Even within plastics, there's a variety of types.
There's polyethylene terephthalate, or PET,
Common for bottles. Some hold your glue,
others your whatever that is.
Our ketchup bottle is made out of PT plastic.
This original squeeze cap is made out of a different
plastic called polypropylene.
Polypropylene is technically recyclable and is quite popular in food
packaging.
Polypropylene it's it's not new at all.
It's been used quite a lot.
Adam Harriet is a plastics expert at British Packaging and
Waste Advocate Wrap.
So a lot of times you you'll see it in
things like
especially food packaging because it's got a very good oxygen
barrier on there.
So you get them in sort of like tubs of
butter and margarine or ice cream tubs.
So what was the problem with the original ketchup cap?
If it's already recyclable, there's a second material inside.
Look here, this small part where the ketchup comes out
that's flexible silicon and that makes the cap harder to
recycle.
The issue is really the small valve.
Christophe Valdao is the CEO of B&P Creality,
which works with firms on sustainable packaging.
So they said, OK, we need,
we need to have a mono material,
we need just polypropylene because when you look at for
example,
white uncoloured packaging made of polypropylene for example,
this is highly recyclable as a mono material.
So swapping out that one small valve makes recycling the
entire product much easier.
But there was a risk factor.
America's favorite ketchup and give it a squeeze,
Give kinds a squeeze anytime that you please,
just a little or a lot.
There are some aspects in the packaging which are really
important for the consumer and you know,
bringing the ketchup on the right place on your plate,
this is very, very important.
In order to retain that function with a new material,
Kraft Heinz Re engineered the cap entirely and filed these
patent documents for the Balaton closure.
It comprises 2 pieces of polypropylene and supposedly works just
as well as the old design.
Kraft Heinz isn't the only company going through this process.
Look at your milk carton or juice box.
That's what's known as aseptic packaging.
Tetrapack is one of the most well known brands and
aluminum layer inside keeps out oxygen and light.
But aluminum is problematic for greenhouse gases.
Now, Tetrapack says it's trying to replace that barrier.
Let's say that you've managed to create a package that
is technically
100% recyclable. Now you can recycle it and get the
material back,
right, cutting your costs? A circular economy.
But that's easier said than done.
One big issue is sorting.
Another is that health rules limit the use of recycled
plastics for food grade plastics.
Here, just South of Mexico City,
is a look at industry's best efforts to make plastic
more circular.
An advanced recycling center run by the British based company
Greenback,
right next to a landfill.
There's plenty of material to work with and plenty of
Labor to help with the initial sorting.
Greenback is working with major brands like Nestle to take
recyclable plastics out of the surrounding environment.
Offsetting what Nestle has pumped in
the material is broken down by heating to form a
liquid plastic resin that's used to create new packaging.
So in other words, we're not trying to recycle plastic
into park benches,
but we're trying to create a full circularity.
Philip von Stauffenberg is the CEO of Greenback.
As companies face more pressure to show they're recycling their
plastics,
or that they're using recycled plastics,
they could in theory turn to companies like this.
Young firms like Greenback can still struggle to find investment.
The hope is that growing pressure on industry will grow
this market in the years to come.
Creating recycling economies is difficult and expensive.
The years long efforts to create recyclable packaging may actually
be the easy part.
One thing is clear, The pressure for better,
greener packaging is growing, and it's unlikely to slow down
anytime soon.