Unilever: Single-Material Label
Unilever plans to reduce its use of plastic packaging by 2025, aiming to halve its use of virgin plastic in packaging, which currently totals 700,000 metric tons worldwide.
The Request
Replace laminated wrappers made of two different materials with a mono-material solution compatible with the packaging machines in use at their plant.
The Standards
Laminate of paper and plastic that cannot be separated and is therefore not recyclable.
The Solution
After about a year of in-line testing with different PP solutions, we found the right micron blend of two polypropylenes to deliver the stiffness needed for packaging.
We met the target: although it is a laminate of two PP layers, it qualifies as mono-material and is therefore recyclable. It also increased their packaging speed and reduced processing time.