Amcor Flexibles has partnered with compostable packaging producer, TIPA, to bring its compostable packaging technology to Australia and New Zealand.
Under the new partnership, Amcor will collaborate with Israel-headquartered TIPA to locally manufacture, supply, and distribute TIPA's trademarked and certified compostable solutions in ANZ.
The move is in response to increased demand from Amcor customers to develop global best-practice compostable solutions for this market.
The new high-performance compostable films and laminate offerings complement Amcor’s existing compostable range, Nature+, enabling new solutions for bakery, meat and fresh produce customers. The TIPA branded product range will fit within the Nature+ portfolio.
Simon Roy, vice president and general manager, Amcor Flexibles Australia & New Zealand, told PKN the material will be manufactured at Amcor Flexibles manufacturing sites across Australia and New Zealand. Roy says the technology is easy to integrate into existing manufacturing lines and will not require a significant investment.
Manufacturing will soon be underway, with the new film available in the market almost immediately.
The packaging produced through this partnership will be compostable either at home or via municipal collection. Roy says that up to 20 per cent of Australian municipalities now have FOGO [food organics and garden organics] bins, and there's a push for this footprint to increase, which in turn will increase demand for compostable food packaging.
Performing like conventional plastic, the compostable films and laminates can be disposed of using existing composting infrastructure, decomposing back into soil like organic waste, and are all certified either ‘home compostable’ and ‘compostable’ according to industry-wide standards. This includes the Australian standard AS5810, which Roy says is one of the strictest in the world.
The film is certified to decompose within 26 weeks. As such this complies with the national compostable packaging guidelines recently released by the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation, of which Amcor is a member. It is also a founding signatory of the ANZPAC Plastics Pact.
Roy said: “This is very exciting technology with regards to the specific compostability applications, and it will bring a lot of value to our customers in this market. We know compostable packaging will never be the whole answer, and we are aware of concerns within industry circles about compostables ending up in the recycling stream, but we believe there should be multiple arrows in our quill as we move towards meeting the 2025 National Packaging Targets. We are committed to ensuring all our packaging is recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025.”
He notes that for brand owners using the compostable film, the claim relating to compostability has to be made on the finished product. In the applications that this new film will be used for, it will be possible to make those claims.
“We are working with TIPA to understand and evaluate its use in particular packaging segments,” Roy added.
Roy said that Amcor takes seriously its responsibility to take leadership in developing sustainable packaging solutions for FMCG primary packaging.
“On this front, there is incredible movement in the ANZ market at the moment. We have a very large R&D and technical research team based here. Historically a lot of their work has been focused on value engineering projects, or aesthetic projects, but this has shifted dramatically. Our customers are demanding that we take leadership on the sustainability agenda, and at least 50 per cent of our R&D is now spent on helping customers on their sustainability journey,” he said.
“We're always looking for global technologies and innovations that we can bring to the ANZ market, and this collaboration with TIPA is an example of that in action.”
