Princes to roll out 50% recycled shrink-wrap packaging

Princes is to again increase its use of recycled plastic, rolling out shrink-wrap packaging made from 50% post-consumer recycled waste (PCRW).

All the supplier’s UK-made brands – including Crosse & Blackwell, Branston, Aqua Pura and Jucee – will come packed in the sustainable wrapping by the end of 2019, along with all Princes products for own-label.

With half of the PCRW coming from UK sources, Princes would help reduce the amount of plastic sent to landfill across the country by up to 1,000 tonnes, it said.

Polyethylene waste will be collected from supermarkets, washed, shredded and formed into pellets for extrusion into new wrapping. There was no compromise to packing speed or pack integrity, the company added.

Its commitment follows its moves last year to increase use of recycled plastic across hundreds of products. In May, Princes pledged to roll out 51% rPET in all its plastic bottles for ambient soft drinks and oils. Two months later, it announced all high-density polyethylene bottles for its chilled juice drinks would be made using 30% recycled material.

Princes had “made huge progress increasing the recycled content of the plastic we use, and this is a further milestone for us” said corporate relations director David McDiarmid. “Collation of shrink film around cases and on multipacks represents the second largest use of plastic in our UK manufacturing operations by weight, so it’s a significant step.”

The company’s goal was “to reach the maximum possible recycled content for all the plastics we use as soon as we possibly can and preferably with UK material” he added.

“We hope this helps stimulate an increase in the feed stock of plastics to the UK recycling industry as collections improve, consumers recycle more and technology advances. This is fundamental to ensuring a circular economy is achievable for plastic in the UK.”