An innovative development from Greiner Packaging is revolutionising the recyclability of cardboard-plastic combinations. Making sure that waste was sorted correctly used to be fully reliant on consumers playing their part. But now with K3® r100, the cardboard wrap and the plastic cup separate all by themselves on the way to the recycling facility. This makes the packaging solution ideal for recycling.
In developing K3® r100, Greiner have created a solution in which the cardboard wrap separates itself from the plastic cup during the waste collection process, before the packaging arrives at the NIR (near infrared) detection in the sorting unit. This innovative development makes K3® cups substantially easier to recycle, with the cardboard and plastic assigned to the correct material streams during the initial sorting process before being recycled.
“In developing K3® r100, we have made a major breakthrough. That being said, of course, the best-case scenario is still for the consumer to separate the cardboard wrap from the plastic cup before disposing of the parts properly,” says Jens Krause, Sales Director and K3® product category manager, Greiner Packaging. “For this reason, the K3® r100 still features the innovative tear-off solution, which makes separating the plastic and cardboard easier and more intuitive. This means that environmentally conscious consumers can play it safe when it comes to recycling – it was with good reason that the tear tab was praised by the jury for the Swiss Packaging Awards for being ‘easy to see and use’ and ‘self-explanatory’. Plus, the rear side of the cardboard wrap is the perfect place to provide more information and engage with consumers.”
