With sustainability and saving the environment as still the top priorities in the packaging industry, many nations are coordinating with local companies to make this happen. One such country that has kicked off a closed loop packaging system within their locality is Ireland, through the efforts of Waddington Europe.

This thermoforming packaging company has partnered with Shabra to buy local food-grade recycled PET (rPET) and manufacture new products from these. rPET is sourced from tubs, bottles, trays, pots. The forged partnership lets Waddington expand its current line of Eco Blend products, with the rPET used to manufacture these as secured locally. It brings locally made, used and then recycled items back to the Irish market to be utilised once more.

“Collectively, we hope these new agreements will advance our stake in localized plastics circularity in the Irish market,” said Eduardo Gomes, Managing Director of Waddington Europe. “We need to start moving to a more holistic and long-term view when it comes to the lifecycle and environmental impact of food-grade packaging. It’s just as important to consider the carbon footprint at its start of life as the environmental impact at the end of its life.”

Shabra is Ireland’s leading reprocesser and recycler of post-consumer waste (PCW). They invest heavily in upgrading their sorting lines and reprocessing facility, where the rPET flakes are washed thoroughly before sent to the thermoforming and packaging segment.

“We are very much committed to sustainability and a circular economy and all the benefits that go with them,” said Rita Shah, CEO of Shabra. “By keeping Irish plastic packaging waste in an Irish recycling system, we are confident that we can offer forward-thinking customers like Waddington Europe long-term savings, less reliance on foreign external suppliers, a positive public perception and increased customer loyalty. On a macro level, the localized economic model can increase jobs and innovation, the security of raw material supply and consumer savings, as well as reduce damaging pressures on the environment. To top all this, we have big expansion plans for 2022 that will allow us to double our output.”