By Plasteurope.com staff

German packaging manufacturer Südpack (Ochsenhausen; www.suedpack.com) and UK specialist for polyolefin foams Zotefoams (Croydon, London; www.zotefoams.com) have announced a cooperation. Südpack plans to supply foamed HDPE film to Zotefoams, which will be used for their ReZorce packaging.

The agreement with Südpack, which will allow Zotefoams to produce up to 100 mn ReZorce cartons per year in addition to the company’s own capacity, is to run for three years, with the option of an extension. 

ReZorce is a mono-material packaging in which foam layers alternate with firmer layers so the packaging, which is visually comparable to conventional beverage cartons, has the necessary barrier properties and rigidity. Zotefoams presented the packaging concept in 2021 as a mono-material alternative to multi-layer beverage cartons made of polyethylene, aluminium, and cardboard, which are costly to recycle.

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As Zotefoams announced in response to an enquiry from Plasteurope.com, the first 150,000 beverage cartons will initially be produced for beverage bottler Refresco. The market test at a European retailer is supposed to take place in the coming months.

Thanks to its multi-layer structure, ReZorce also allows recyclates to be incorporated into a middle layer, which is then flanked by outer layers of fossil-source HDPE. This prevents the recyclate layer from coming into contact with food. With the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) taking effect, a mandatory recycled content in plastic packaging is becoming increasingly important.

In addition to production at its headquarters in the UK, Zotefoams operates additional plants in Poland, the US (Kentucky), and China. Beyond this, there is a joint venture in Hong Kong and a subsidiary – MuCell Extrusion – with production facilities in the US (Massachusetts) and Denmark. Turnover recently totalled GBP 127 mn (EUR 149 mn).

Südpack produces films and packaging for the food, non-food, and medical industries as well as customised compounds. The company’s headquarters are in Ochsenhausen, Germany, and it has additional production sites in the country (Erlenmoos, Schwendi, and Erolzheim), the Netherlands (Grootegast), France (Coulmer), Poland (Klobuck), Switzerland (Bioggio), the US (Oak Creek, Wisconsin), and India (Ahmedabad, Gujarat). A sales volume of more than EUR 600 mn was achieved in 2022.

— Translated by Elspeth Lenhard