Coldwater Prawns uses ocean-bound plastic packaging

Sabic has joined forces with Estiko Packaging Solutions and Coldwater Prawns of Norway to develop and implement a sustainable new packaging pouch for frozen prawns. The pouch is made from a multi-layer film produced by Estiko Packaging Solutions using a circular certified random polymer grade of Sabic PP Qrystal with an ocean bound plastic (OBP) content of around 60 percent.  

Contributing to the recovery and reuse of OBP, the packaging reflects the partners’ overall commitment to sustainability and complies with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal #14 for ‘Life Below Water’.  

OBP is abandoned or inadequately managed post-consumer plastic waste found up on riverbanks and in rivers to 50 km inland from seashores. In an advanced recycling process, it is converted into an alternative feedstock which Sabic uses to produce certified circular polymers that can then be returned into the material stream for example for manufacturing high-quality flexible packaging products.  

Estiko Packaging Solutions, the corner stone of Estiko Group (Estonia) and provider of sustainable packaging materials in Northern Europe, uses a Sabic PP Qrystal random polymer from this Trucircle portfolio to produce a multi-layer flexible film for pouches used in the packaging of frozen prawns at Coldwater Prawns of Norway.  

Taavi Tikk, R&D manager at Estiko Packaging Solutions, said that in comprehensive trials on our existing film lines, they found that Sabic’s random PP material with OBP provided exactly the right drop-in-replacement to meet the requirements of Coldwater Prawns of Norway AS, including ‘excellent puncture and tear resistance as well as high transparency for the clear part of the pouch that lets consumers see the packaged prawns’.   

Hege Furnes, COO at Coldwater Prawns of Norway, commented: ‘We are passionate about prawns, purity and the planet, and when it comes to the welfare of the planet, our motto is that “it can’t get pure enough”. The material choice for our new pouches meets with our care for the ecosystem on which our business relies. By using an OBP based packaging product, we are making an active contribution to prevent abandoned plastic litter from polluting the sea. In addition, the pouches are fully recyclable in existing material recovery systems for flexible packaging.’ 

The certified circular solution is mass balance certified under the International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC) PLUS chain of custody. This means that the material flow is controlled and tracked from the OBP to each pouch following a set of predefined and transparent rules. As a result, for every ton of certified circular polymer used in the production of the PP resin, Estiko Packaging Solutions can claim an equivalent amount of flexible film as certified circular. Coldwater Prawns of Norway AS, in turn, can document the enhanced sustainability towards consumers by indicating the responsibly sourced packaging content on the pouches.