Sadleirs Packaging, the country’s second oldest family-owned business, founded in WA in 1829, is launching a fully recyclable, 100 per cent polypropylene FIBC with 30 per cent recycled content, for the first time in Australia.
The Sadleirs Green Bag, developed after wide consultation with customers and recyclers and two years of trials in the company’s plants across the region, was successfully introduced in New Zealand by Ballance Agri-Nutrients in a debut pilot for the ANZ market in 2022.
“As part of our ongoing environmental focus, we at Sadleirs felt it was our responsibility to produce a sustainable product, and in launching it, to set a standard for our customers, to support the environment, community and our industry,” Glen Davies, GM Packaging at Sadleirs, says.
To set the context for why this is an important innovation, Australia currently consumes 3.5 million tonnes of plastic per annum, with less than 15 per cent of it currently recycled. Industry has made progress towards increasing the recycling rate, with large waste processors and recyclers investing in recycling technology. Local plastic manufacturers are investing to prepare to use the recycled plastic, with 2025 recycled content targets looming for brand owners and retailers.
One of the largest fully imported packaging formats is the sewn bulk bag, or flexible intermediate bulk container (FIBC), which is not made in Australia due to high labour costs. Almost 100 per cent of these bags are currently not recyclable locally by either mechanical or advanced (chemical) recycling, due to fibre, PET and Nylon content in the bag.
With an estimated five million bulk bags imported into Australia each year, this means around 10,000 tonnes of unrecyclable, or difficult to recycle plastic that in the past would have been exported for reprocessing in the region, currently must go to landfill.
Stephen Walker, national sales manager, says, “After positive feedback from Ballance and its customers, Sadleirs is launching the new Green Bag for all its customers in the Australian and New Zealand markets, to ensure that they, and their end users, can meet their 2025 recyclability targets.
“In addition, they will be able to provide their recyclers with an easily identified feedstock for both mechanical and advanced recycling.”
Walker explains that as well as being made from 100 per cent polypropylene, the new Green Bag is made with 30 per cent recycled content for non-food content applications, and yields a five per cent reduction in weight over the company’s equivalent non-recyclable bag.
For easy identification by recyclers, the bags have a large “Sadleirs Green Bag” logo on both sides, with plenty of space left for customer branding.
Walker adds that exporters to the UK will be exempted from paying the £210 per tonne virgin plastic tax if they move to a Green Bag.
“Almost every configuration of FIBC can transition over to the new Green Bag, with our customers in mining, manufacturing, construction, chemicals, dairy and other food processors keen to sign up to trial and transition,” Walker says.
“Our aim is to transition at least one million bulk bags over to Green Bags by 2024, providing 2000 tonnes of feedstock for Australian recyclers, and that the rest of the market will be encouraged to follow us.”
Asked about the collection process for these bags, Walker responds that Sadleirs is working with recyclers across Australia and New Zealand with the aim of providing its customers with access to a network of recyclers who can take back and recycle their Green Bags.
This article was first published in the July-August 2023 print issue of PKN Packaging News, p9.
