Symington's has been packaging its Naked brand instant noodles in Greiner Packaging's K3 carton/plastic combination since 2021 and is now the first food manufacturer in the UK to switch its Oatburst brand instant porridge to Greiner's self-separating K3 r100.
„The K3 r100 packaging innovation has made the impossible possible,“ says Rachel Sheldon, UK & Ireland Sustainability and Innovation Manager at Greiner Packaging. „Cardboard wrap and plastic packaging are separated during the waste disposal process without human intervention.“ The achievement of a Recyclability of up to 98 per cent is therefore not - as with all previous K3 packaging - dependent on correct separation by the end consumer, but happens completely independently even before arriving at the recycling plant.
Invented by Greiner Packaging over 40 years ago and designed for recyclability from the outset, the cup made from the cardboard-plastic combination K3 scores particularly highly in terms of sustainability. The tear-open mechanism allows the outer cardboard wrap to be intuitively separated from the plastic cup and recycled.
With the latest development K3 r100 the materials separate themselves even before they reach the near-infrared sorting system (NIR system) in the recycling plant. This makes detection, sorting and recycling much more efficient. Before the actual recycling process, the K3 r100 ensures that cardboard and plastic end up in the correct material stream during the initial sorting process.
In January, K3 r100 was awarded the World Star Packaging Award honoured. Last October, the Austrian magazine Kompack honoured Greiner Packaging with the Green Packaging Star Award, after Berglandmilch became the first company in the country to introduce packaging made from self-separating K3 r100.
Source: Greiner Packaging
