Australian supermarket chain, Coles will introduce recyclable packaging made using recycled and renewable material for its range of home branded meat and poultry products. The chain will be the first national supermarket retailer in Australia to do so. The announcement follows a pledge the company made in June to make all home branded packaging recyclable by 2020.
Coles will purchase an estimated 121 million recyclable meat and poultry trays from leading Australian bioplastics manufacturer, Plantic Technologies. The supermarket chain is hoping to combat Australia’s plastic waste problem by using the equivalent of 150 million recycled water bottles annually.
Plantic Technologies meat and poultry trays are made using only recycled PET with a thin layer of Plantic’s renewable plant starch barrier material which helps to improve the shelf life of meat.
Coles Director of Fresh, Alex Freudmann, said Coles was pleased to partner with Plantic Technologies, which is a leading innovator in renewable plant-based barrier materials.
“This is an important new step in our goal to become more sustainable. For four years, our Coles Brand beef, lamb and pork mince has been packaged in recyclable trays sourced from Plantic. We now want to take the next step by transitioning a wider range of our fresh meat and poultry trays to Plantic’s new packaging so that it is not just recyclable but also made from recycled plastics and renewable plant materials including corn,” he said.
Their products carry the Australian Recycling Label (ARL.org.au) which provides information to consumers about what packaging can and can’t be recycled.
Plantic Technologies CEO Brendan Morris said the company saw the partnership with Coles as a defining opportunity to strengthen the recycling industry in Australia.
Plantic Technologies Limited is a world-renowned leader in innovative bioplastics, with a number of industry and science awards.
