Plastics & Rubber World - May/June 2019 - 29

rigid packaging

LVF produces packaging for Lindt Easter eggs. Premium
brands could benefit from using biodegradeable plastics
At Charpak, Justin Kempson also has
strong views on bioplastic and biodegradable products, though for different reasons. "If [biodegradable plastics] get into
the waste stream, they can contaminate
the product, rendering it virtually useless
for anything other than playground surfacing and park benches."
This 'greenwashing' of plastic products
is another strategy which Kempson frowns
upon. "There's a big difference between
marking a package as 'recyclable' and 'recycled'. While most plastics are recyclable,
he questions whether those products will
make it to the recycling centre.
Both Kempson and Coates believe that
plastics should only be marked 'recyclable'
if those items can be automatically sorted - a situation which could help to build
the economic case for collecting films

and flexibles. It's similar to the problems
surrounding the inability of automated
sorting systems to effectively separate
black plastics, unless they use an additive
product.
It's situations like this that Kempson
sees as opportunities for plastics manufacturers willing to invest in new product
development. This could be research for
the greater good, but that R&D comes at a
cost and no one will be willing to pay.
"Food manufacturers can't control the
price of sugar, butter, or flour," he says.
"But they can control the price of packaging, it's one of the few costs they can influence. They won't want to pay the price for
new product development, but at the end
of the day I'm in business to make money
for Charpak and we'll walk away if the business deal doesn't add up."

Tooling used by LVF is all produced
in-house

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Plastics & Rubber World - May/June 2019

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