The CO2-The European average footprint of SIG's aseptic „SIGNATURE PACK“ packaging is 66 per cent lower over its entire life cycle than that of a conventional one-litre SIG carton pack of the same format. According to the company, this is the result of the first ISO-compliant life cycle assessment (LCA), which includes materials produced and assessed according to a mass balance system.
For the production of the aseptic carton packs used SIG exclusively polymers that are 100 per cent based on renewable, plant-based raw materials. This means that renewable raw materials are used to produce these polymers. In the case of Polymers For the SIGNATURE PACK, this is primarily tall oil, which is a by-product of paper production.
SIG has the Life cycle assessment of its aseptic product in accordance with the international standards ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 by the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IFEU). The inclusion of the so-called Mass balance approach The inclusion of renewable raw materials in the life cycle assessment is currently still unique and has advantages for the environment, emphasises Udo Felten, Manager of Product Related Global Environmental Sustainability & Affairs at SIG. In this quantity equalisation calculation, the proportion of renewable to fossil raw materials in the polymers of a product is set in relation to the proportions required to manufacture the polymers. With the SIGNATURE PACK, the balance is even.
„With the mass balance approach, SIG offers its customers the product quality and functionality that can be expected from polymer qualities from conventional polymer production, but also the ecological advantages that result from the 100 per cent sourcing of plant-based renewable raw materials.“
Udo Felten, Manager at SIG
Mass balance approach at SIG could motivate other companies
The manufacturer justifies the decision in favour of this approach as follows: „SIG has opted for a mass balance approach because it offers a broader transition from fossil to bio-based raw materials within the conventional and highly efficient polymer industry, instead of using products from small niche suppliers with inefficient small-scale production and a limited number of polymer grades.“ SIG receives the polymers produced on the basis of tall oil from the plastics manufacturers Sabic and BASF.
Frank Wellenreuther from IFEU welcomes the choice of this raw material: „The use of polymers based on Tall oil via a mass balance system is recommended. SIG's demand for mass balance polymers could serve as a driver to achieve a higher physical content of plant-based raw materials for the production of polymers.“
