Amcor, Kolon Industries join forces to develop recycled and renewable packaging materials

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Image credit: Amcor

Amcor has announced a strategic partnership with Kolon Industries to develop and commercialize sustainable polyester materials for packaging. 

The collaboration aims to advance Amcor’s flexible packaging business by incorporating new, eco-friendly materials, including chemically recycled PET (crPET) and polyethylene furanoate (PEF), as revealed in a media release. 

The two companies will work together to explore Kolon’s innovative recycling technology, which transforms post-consumer bottles, fibres, and flexible packaging into new PET, aligning with Amcor’s goal to use 30 per cent post-consumer recycled content by 2030.

Kolon’s PEF material, derived entirely from sustainable biomass, will offer enhanced product protection and a reduced carbon footprint. This move is part of Amcor’s broader sustainability strategy, which includes achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. 

William Jackson, Amcor’s chief technology officer for flexible packaging solutions, emphasised the importance of the partnership in delivering more sustainable packaging options to customers while reducing their environmental impact.

“This partnership enhances our efforts to offer customers innovative, more sustainable packaging solutions that include PCR content and reduce their carbon footprint,” he noted. 

Meanwhile, Sung Han, chief technology officer at Kolon Industries, expressed confidence that the partnership would accelerate the commercialization of sustainable products and further the development of circular economy principles in global packaging.

“We will continue expanding the development of more sustainable polymer technologies in support of carbon neutrality,” Han remarked. 

For more information on Amcor’s sustainability initiatives, visit their website at amcor.com/sustainability-report.