First Chemically Recycled Polypropylene Iced Coffee Cups

Swiss dairy company Emmi has started to incorporate chemically recycled polypropylene into its packaging. The cups are produced by Greiner Packaging and the chemically recycled material comes from Borealis.

Emmi has the stated goal to make all of its packaging 100% recyclable and is committed to various measures to promote circularity such as packaging that contains at least 30% recycled material by 2027. Focusing on recyclable packaging and the use of recycled materials, Emmi is taking a first step with its Emmi CAFFÈ LATTE brand.

From September 2021, Emmi's successful brand of chilled coffee drinks, Emmi CAFFÈ LATTE, will use at least 100 tonnes of plastic based on the recycled material each year. Emmi is utilizing difficult to recycle feedstock preventing plastic waste that would be likely landfilled or incinerated. The chemically recycled polypropylene used in this new Emmi CAFFÈ LATTE cup is manufactured with Borealis Borcycle C portfolio of chemical recycling offerings. Right now, the package features about 30% Borcycle C chemically recycled PP.

In the future, depending on the availability of suitable material, the amount of recycled plastic in Emmi CAFFÈ LATTE packaging could be increased.

Greiner Packaging and Borealis are working on this new technology. Only limited quantities of chemically recycled polypropylene are currently available, and Emmi is one of only a few food manufacturers to have secured a share of the chemically recycled polypropylene plastic through its early commitment and long-standing collaboration with the development companies.

"It takes joint efforts by food and packaging manufacturers to reduce waste and make measurable progress in the circular economy,” said Bendicht Zaugg, who is responsible for sustainable packaging at Emmi.

“Borealis looks forward to a world without plastic waste,” said Trevor Davis, head of marketing, consumer products at Borealis.

The chemically recycled material used for Emmi CAFFÈ LATTE cup consists entirely and solely of ISCC (International Sustainability & Carbon Certification) material, on a mass balance basis. Mass balance is a methodology that makes it possible to track the amount and sustainability characteristics of circular and/or bio-based content in the value chain and through each step of the process. This provides transparency ultimately also to the consumers, enabling them to know that the product they are buying is based on this renewable material.