R-Cycle - Zotefoams

Squaring the circle:

from 100%
recyclable
to fully circular

There are many reasons why the move from the linear ‘take-make-waste’ economy to a circular model where reuse is prioritised is an imperative. Climate change, waste and pollution – the scale of all these challenges can be reduced by embracing circularity.

Reusable containers for ‘on the go’ beverages such as water or takeaway coffee are increasingly popular but for perishable categories such as fruit juices, dairy and pre-prepared baby food, the options are not so straightforward. With increasingly urban populations and global supply chains, getting the product to the consumer in a fresh or shelf-stable condition requires single-use packaging that provides a barrier against moisture and atmospheric oxygen. In most cases, reusable containers are not practical so instead we need to think in terms of raw materials that remain in circulation.

What is circular packaging?

A truly circular economy in barrier packaging depends on three things:

Products designed from the outset for circularity
Materials being collected and recycled
Materials being separated into their constituent parts to create raw materials that can be made into the same product, again and again.

Since the inception of composite barrier packaging in the last century, the required performance has been achieved by laminating together different materials – which might include wood fibre, plastics and sometimes aluminium depending on the product category. Examples of composite packaging include beverage cartons, pouches for products such as baby food and toothpaste tubes. These materials require specialist recycling and even then, the resulting products can only be downcycled.

By contrast, ReZorce® Circular Packaging is a lightweight mono-material produced from polymers most commonly used in packaging. It is compatible with post-consumer recycling systems and all mainstream recycling processes while meeting the expectations of brand owners in terms of barrier performance, cost-competitiveness and on-shelf appeal.

Learn how ReZorce is designed for the circular economy…

As a mono-material produced from common polymers, ReZorce eliminates the need to separate materials into their constituent parts before recycling: the empty container and any closure are already a single material and can be placed in the same recycling stream. This is a particular benefit where tethered closures are mandatory.

Furthermore, Independent Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies demonstrate that ReZorce has a significantly lower environmental footprint than composite alternatives. The results are most impressive when the fully circular potential of ReZorce is harnessed – that is, ensuring that polymers of the same type are recycled together to produce a high-quality recyclate that can be used repeatedly for the same application.

53%
less energy

51%
less water

55%
lower gwp

Download our Life Cycle Assessment comparing a composite beverage carton with a ReZorce equivalent

Click Here

Harnessing the circular potential of ReZorce

With this goal in mind, The ReZorce team has partnered with R-Cycle, the open tracing standard for sustainable plastic packaging. By providing a digital product passport, R-Cycle enables a genuine circular economy and a highly efficient process chain. Value-added partners from around the world benefit from recording and retrieving all relevant packaging properties – to improve their product sustainability, quality and manufacturing process.

How does it work?

The pack is marked with a unique code – either visible or invisible – which links to the record in R-Cycle’s open standard data bank. Offline using, for example, a visible QR code, the data can be used to inform and educate consumers about the material.

As an online, fully integrated system, the code serves as a digital passport that enables..

Precise waste sorting

in enabled MRFs, cameras scan the waste stream and identify materials based on the visible or invisible code. This allows products made from the same polymer to be sorted together, as the basis for high-quality, validated recyclate.

Large-scale insights

through the value chain produces big data that can be used in a variety ways: to monitor the performance of EPR and DRS schemes, to calculate the carbon footprint of packaging and the volume of material being recycled.