LINPAC Packaging wins a European Best Recycled Product award

LINPAC Packaging has been recognised in the first EPRO awards aimed at promoting recycled products across Europe.

To help promote the recycling of plastics, the European Association of Plastics Recycling and Recovery Organisations (EPRO) ran a competition during 2009 – open to all European manufacturers – to find the best commercial product made from at least 50% recycled plastic.*Entries were received from a wide range of sectors across 13 countries, and LINPAC Packaging, a division of the UK-based LINPAC Group, picked up joint third place for its innovative range of Rfresh PET trays for food. Rfresh PET trays contain a minimum of 50% food grade post-consumer recyclate, and offer a sustainable packaging option without compromising performance.

Providing the same standards expected from trays made of virgin material, Rfresh PET trays are suitable for a wide range of meat, fish and poultry products. They are manufactured to certified US FDA and European EFSA protocols, and do not rely on the use of an ABA co-extrusion technology to encapsulate the recycled material.

An eight-strong panel from across Europe judged the entries and four products took the top three places. First prize went to Team-Tex of France for a child’s car seat; second position was awarded to Pilot of France for its ‘Bottle-to-Pen’ (B2P) pen; and joint third place went to both The Nobody Chair, designed by Komplot in Denmark and produced in Sweden from source material by Wellman International, and LINPAC Packaging for its Rfresh PET trays for food, manufactured in the UK and Germany.

Alan Davey, Director of Innovation for LINPAC Packaging, said: “We are extremely proud to win this award. Not only are we the only winner from the packaging sector, but we are also the only winner based in Britain.

“We pride ourselves in our level of design - not only of the trays, but in the processes that ensure only the best recycled material is used to make our products. This enables us to offer our customers the range and security of supply required by leading firms.

“We’ve seen demand grow beyond our initial expectations, but this accolade means a great deal because the judges have recognised the level of technical design in an item that often gets overlooked, especially compared with the types of products shortlisted alongside us.”

Commenting on the LINPAC award, EPRO’s An Vossen said: “On behalf of all EPRO members I would like to thank LINPAC for participating in our competition and to congratulate you on your impressive design and creative processes. Your product is evidence that – yes – recycling is worth the effort, and it helps to highlight the range of options and applications for recycled plastics packaging.”

Francis Huysman, Co-Chairman of EPRO, added: “This is the first award EPRO has given to manufacturers of recycled products. We know that there are many goods containing substantial amounts of recycled plastic packaging, and we wanted to promote and reward this sustainable practice. The contest was aimed at marrying the needs of European manufacturers who routinely use recycled plastics, and consumers who want recognition for their efforts in recycling.

“EPRO has been delighted by the level of interest shown in the competition and highly encouraged to see how far the ‘recycled products’ industry has advanced. We are grateful to those organisations that entered and assure you that it was not easy to agree on our winner and runners up. We plan to hold this competition each year and it will be interesting to see the new products in 2010.”

Mike Arrowsmith, LINPAC Group CEO, said: “This latest accolade from the EPRO comes hot-on-the-heels of our ‘Manufacturer of the Year’ award in the UK, and being named ‘Supplier of the Year’ in Australia by a leading global brand. It demonstrates our commitment to innovation, the quality of our products and services, and our high levels of customer support – three things the LINPAC brand is already renowned for worldwide. Our goal is to continue to create real value for our customers in the packaging, supply chain and other sectors by helping to improve their performance, competitiveness and profitability.”