Berry M&H, part of Berry Global (Evansville, Indiana / USA; www.berryglobal.com), has introduced a detectable black masterbatch for many of its standard packs, enabling them to be more easily sorted for recycling. The masterbatch, which is free from carbon black, allows sorting systems to identify Berry’s packaging alongside other coloured HDPE bottles. Currently, most black packaging is coloured with black pigment or masterbatch containing carbon black, so waste management facilities cannot separate it from general waste.

As black is often a preferred base colour for packs, Berry M&H said the new masterbatch will enable many more tonnes of packaging to be recycled. The company added that samples are now available.

Berry M&H was formerly RPC M&H. Berry Global acquired RPC (Rushden / UK; www.rpc-group.com) in July 2019 – see Plasteurope.com of 03.07.2019.