Coveris delivers carbon savings for Cranswick with label recycling

The partnership sees Cranswick Convenience Foods division switch from a PET release to a new fibre based UPM Raflatac RAFNXT+ material, which is then returned to Coveris for recycling.

The new material will be used across more than 175 million packs to support sustainable targets, including Cranswick’s own carbon agenda, and Coveris’ sustainability vision of No Waste.

Delivering a weight saving of around 12% per label, Coveris said the new liner material will remove over 35 tonnes of plastic PET from the supply-chain annually, replacing this with a lighter weight label, recyclable liner and more sustainable alternative.

As the world’s first label material verified by the Carbon Trust, choosing RAFNXT+ instead of a standard labelling material has a positive climate impact, including the smarter use of raw materials which reduces pressure on forests and increases the capacity to improve mitigation of climate change. Impact has been compared to the UPM Raflatac standard label range and is in accordance with PAS 2050 standard.

The release liner by-product waste is returned and recycled via its partnership with RafCycle recycling service by UPM Raflatac.

Delivering environmental benefits, Coveris and UPM Raflatac said the new material and recycling process together support a CO2e saving of 20%, reduced water consumption of 1.8 million litres, and a 6% energy saving – the equivalent to powering a typical household for 39 years.

Will Mercer, Coveris’ R&D director for paper, said: “Having seamlessly delivered a reduced carbon solution through our leading partnership with UPM Raflatac and Cranswick Convenience Foods, we hope that other manufacturers recognise the major sustainable impact they can make through better label material choices and recycling options.”