Amcor Develops First 100% Post-Consumer Recycled Clear PET Container

Global packaging company Amcor has just developed and launched a PET container made from 100% post-consumer recycled (PCR) content resin. According to the company, the clear bottles are the first of its kind in the world. They are available in 2 sizes, and were created for Californian multivitamin brand Ritual. 

Australian multinational packaging company Amcor recently debuted a new 100% recycled plastic container for Ritual. The clear bottles are available in two sizes, 100 and 150 cubic centimetres, and the first kind to be manufactured using only PCR content resin, most of which derived from PET plastic bottles. 

Ritual was founded in 2015 by Katerina Markov-Schneider and offers a subscription-based multivitamin service catered to women. According to the brand, it decided to partner up with Amcor to develop a packaging solution that would use only existing materials to avoid contributing more waste to the planet. 

Plastic production globally has reached 8.3 billion metric tonnes, and of this amount, most plastics are manufactured into packaging materials that are used only once and are immediately discarded into landfills. 

PET has become the preferred packaging material used in many industries because of its lightweight, shatterproof, resealable, reusable and recyclable qualities. However, the main challenge of recycling PET is to maintain colour and clarity of the plastic, which Amcor’s engineers in the newly debuted containers have managed to achieve. 

“Our collaboration with Ritual has delivered an attractive packaging solution that reflects the brand’s mission and commitment to the environment…The clarity of the bottle is incredible,” said VP Healthcare at Amcor Rigid Packaging Harry Goldstein in a press release.

By using only PCR, the company is not only redirecting otherwise landfilled waste, but also reducing the demand for virgin resins, and reducing the carbon emissions involved in producing new petroleum-based plastics. 

While the new 100% recycled PET bottles marks a major accomplishment for industry uses to reduce new unsustainable production and to promote the recirculation of existing resources on the planet, there is much more to be done to combat plastic pollution. 

A recent report drawn up by a coalition of stakeholders, politicians and environmental campaigners revealed that despite awareness about the dangers of plastic climbing to an all-time high, an astonishing 855 billion single-use sachets still are disposed each year – enough to cover the entire surface on earth. 

These sachets, typically bound up with other materials such as foil and wax, are almost impossible to recycle, are usually contaminated with food or other substances, and are of little value to collect. Governments have tended to crack down on a number of plastic items such as bags and straws, but sachets have been nearly entirely exempt from any legislation limiting the use of plastics.

Over time, litter from tiny plastics are eroded into even smaller particles called microplastics, now found across rivers, oceans, and back into our food chain through the consumption of seafood and water. Last year in Hong Kong, Greenpeace researchers found a staggering 11-fold increase in plastic pollution in the city’s beaches and seas in just 3 years.

Lead image courtesy of Ritual.