July 3, 2024 Symington’s First in UK to Choose Recyclable K3® r100

Symington’s is the first UK food producer to move its Oatburst instant porridge brand to Greiner’s award winning self-separating K3® r100.

Symington’s has been using Greiner Packaging’s K3® cardboard-plastic packaging solution for its Naked brand instant noodles since 2021 and is now the first UK food producer to move its Oatburst instant porridge brand to Greiner’s award winning K3® r100 self-separating variant.

“The K3® r100 product innovation has made the impossible possible,” says Greiner Packaging UK & Ireland Sustainability and Innovation Manager Rachel Sheldon. “The cardboard wrap and plastic packaging separate from each other without human intervention during the waste disposal process.”

“This means that achieving a high recyclability rate (up to 98%) does not depend on proper separation by the end consumer – which was the case with all previous K3® packaging – as it now happens completely independently before the used packaging reaches the recycling facility.”

K3® r100’s sustainability credentials are a perfect match

“Oatburst is ideal for people on the go, so we are delighted that however consumers dispose of the empty container when they have finished enjoying their instant porridge snack, the two packaging materials will self-separate to enable recycling during the waste disposal process,” says Symington’s Finance Director Julian Wetton.

“We were already fans of the original K3® packaging solution from Greiner Packaging, but this new K3® r100 development is really exciting as we can be confident that we have put a perfectly recyclable product into the market.”

Award winning K3® r100

Invented by Greiner Packaging over 40 years ago, and designed for recycling, the K3® cardboard-plastic cup is not only convenient and features an appealing look – its sustainability characteristics are extremely attractive, too. It features a unique tear-tab so that consumers can intuitively separate the cardboard outer wrap from the lightweight plastic cup to enable recycling.

With the latest development, K3® r100, the materials separate themselves before they reach the near-infrared detection (NIR) system at the recycling facility, leading to proper detection, sorting and recycling. K3® r100 therefore enables cardboard and plastic to be assigned to the correct material streams during the initial sorting process, before being recycled.

In January, K3® r100 received the World Star Packaging Awards, and last October, Greiner Packaging received the Green Packaging Star Award, from the Austrian magazine KOMPACK, for Berglandmilch being the first company in the country to use the self-separating K3® r100 packaging.

About Greiner Packaging
Greiner Packaging is one of the leading European manufacturers of plastic packaging in the food and non-food sector. For over 60 years, the company has stood for a high level of solution competence in development, design, production, and decoration. Greiner Packaging meets the challenges of the market with two business units: Packaging and Assistec. While the former stands for innovative packaging solutions, the latter focuses on the production of customized technical parts. Greiner Packaging employs more than 4,800 people at 30 locations in 19 countries worldwide. In 2023, the company achieved an annual turnover of 845 million euros (incl. joint ventures). This is almost 40% of Greiner’s total turnover.

Media contact at Greiner Packaging UK & Ireland:
Bill Bruce
Senior Consultant
Bill Bruce Communications
bill@billbrucecommunications.com
+44 (0)7799 347046

More information:
www.greiner-gpi.com

Subscribe to Industry Today