Ketchup bottles in the United Kingdom are getting a new look, as Kraft Heinz has developed a fully recyclable lid with the help of a 3D printer.
The cap is the novel piece, pairing a 100% polypropylene design with the previously recyclable bottle to create a circular product container, a company official blogged for The Consumer Goods Forum.
The old top included silicone, which made it problematic to recover the plastic that made up the rest of the piece.
"This innovative solution eliminated the non-recyclable silicone valve, which contaminates the recycling stream when recycled along with traditional closures, making the entire bottle fully circular," Trenten Huntington, Kraft Heinz senior manager of packaging sustainability, global procurement sustainability, and innovation, wrote. "Our team tested over 45 prototypes to find the optimal solution that balances functionality, ease of use, and aesthetics."
Huntington said 185,000 hours of research and development went into the cap. It will be used with more Heinz sauces in Europe and elsewhere.
The change also enables a smoother process for the food giant in production and logistics. The lid will supplant 300,000 non-recyclable closures annually, and it provides the same opening and dispensing experience for consumers.
The blog noted that, as is true of all recyclables, the reuse of the cap will depend on "consumer education, infrastructure and suitable end markets." If buyers don't understand that the new top can be recycled or "the importance of doing so," for example, the resources that went into it will be for naught.
Communities must also have access to collection and sorting, and then the plastic needs to be recoverable and usable in other products.
This is a long journey for cheap plastic and often where recycling goes astray. Glass and aluminum are alternatives that don't lose quality in the recycling process and thus can be remade infinitely.
In that vein, Kraft Heinz is looking to expand its sustainable and circular offerings, including by turning away from plastic. It would also do well to make the same switch with its U.S. ketchup bottles, just as it did for its famous Shake 'N Bake bags.
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The way it looks 😍 "We're also exploring other packaging alternatives, including compostable and reusable solutions, that could help close the loop even further," Huntington stated.
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