COVERIS has unveiled a new range of ‘reduced plastic’ pouches for Iceland’s grated cheese.
Moving from a former mixed nylon laminate to a fully recyclable polyethylene (PE) monolaminate, Coveris explained that the firm’s MonoFlexBE pouches use 1g less of plastic per pack.
Matching current shelf-life and delivering ‘like-for-like functional performance’, the packs will support the retailer’s commitment to become the UK’s first plastic-neutral supermarket.
Available across 250g packs of Iceland’s grated mature and mild cheddar, and grated mozzarella, the new pouches are said to offer a total plastic weight saving of around seven tonnes per annum, whilst 41 tonnes of plastic are now ‘easily recyclable’ through retailer front of store plastic film collections, including Iceland’s in-store plastic collection and recycling service available in over 150 Food Warehouse stores.
Stuart Lendrum, head of packaging, quality and food safety at Iceland, said, “Our journey to plastic-free will be supported by great work like this, which helps us all reduce plastic and ensure the plastic we do use is easily recyclable.”
Mark Robinson, Coveris’ UK flexibles technical director, added, “We’re really proud to have supported Iceland with the launch of the new recyclable, reduced plastic packs. Delivering major sustainable benefits in line with Iceland’s plastic-neutral commitments as well as our own plastic and food waste reduction targets, the packs deliver real sustainable innovation with no downsides to freshness or performance for a technically challenging, extended shelf-life product.”
