SOURCE: Albert Heijn February 15, 2022
AAlbert Heijn is the first supermarket to use transparent tray-to-tray packaging. Developed by plastic recycler Umincorp and Hordijk, the packaging consists of 40% recycled PET, at least half of which originates from household packaging waste (MDS RPET).
Albert Heijn makes packaging more circular
Albert Heijn is the first supermarket in the Netherlands to start closed-loop recycling of plastic fruit containers: the recycling of PET from household waste into new plastic containers provides a second life for the plastic. The first packaging to be reused in this way, fresh fruit salads (550 grams), will be in stores from the end of February. Initially, more than 500,000 containers per year will be used. With this development, Albert Heijn is taking a big step towards more circular packaging.
Henk van Harn, Director of Merchandising & Sourcing at Albert Heijn: “Together we want to make better food accessible to everyone by promoting a healthy lifestyle, but also by combating food and packaging waste. We have ambitious goals for packaging. We are looking to use less plastic and find new ways to reuse it. So I am proud of this innovation.
Transparency
PET from household packaging waste is the only type of plastic that can be used as food packaging after recycling. Until now, this has only been possible with PET bottles, such as returnable bottles. Until now, PET containers such as mushroom trays and meat trays have been recycled into non-recyclable coloured plastic or low-value uses such as roadside poles or picnic tables. Now, for the first time, these trays are being recycled into clear, recyclable food packaging.
Boosting recycling
The new transparent tray-to-tray packaging, developed in collaboration with plastics recycler Umincorp and packaging manufacturer Hordijk, is made from 40% recycled PET, at least half of which comes from household packaging waste. The advantage of recycling old PET containers is that more PET from the deposit stream is available for bottles, reducing the need for virgin (fossil) plastic. It also boosts plastic recycling by giving more used food containers a new life as food packaging. Finally, it increases the availability of recycled PET, a challenge that will only increase as the demand for recycled plastic grows.
9 million kilos saved
Albert Heijn aims to use at least 50% recycled PET by 2025. In addition, the retailer aims to use 20 million kilos less packaging material by 2025 and to make all private label packaging 100% recyclable. In the past four years, more than 9 million kilos of packaging material have already been saved by using no, less or alternative packaging materials.