SIG wins the 4evergreen award for circularity design

SIG Terra Alu-free + Full Barrier – SIG’s full barrier packaging material for aseptic carton packs with no aluminum layer – has earned the Design for Circularity award of the 4evergreen Alliance ‘Circularity Success Stories’ initiative. The Palurec PolyAl recycling plant – in which SIG is a major investor together with industry partners Elopak and Tetra Pak – has been awarded the Circularity Best Practices award.

4evergreen is a cross-industry alliance of over 100 members, including SIG, representing the entire lifecycle of fiber-based packaging – from forests to producers, designers, brand owners and recyclers. The goal of the alliance is to reach a 90% recycling rate for fiber-based packaging in Europe by 2030. Its awards for Circularity Success Stories honor individual or collective projects and initiatives that are pioneering circularity and fiber-based packaging with the support of 4evergreen tools. The winners have the exclusive opportunity to present during the upcoming 4evergreen Annual Conference scheduled for November 20th in Brussels and online.

SIG is committed to progressively using less aluminum and polymers in its packaging materials, without compromising on quality. It has led the industry with its pioneering SIG Terra portfolio providing a range of industry-leading firsts and exclusives that offer both unrivalled on-shelf appeal and stand-out environmental credentials. SIG Terra Alu-free + Full Barrier, one of the latest developments from SIG’s sustainable innovation pipeline, is the world’s first full barrier solution for aseptic cartons with no aluminum layer that can be used with oxygen-sensitive products, such as juices. With barrier properties comparable to standard aseptic cartons, SIG Terra Alu-free + Full Barrier ensures that food and beverages are protected over long periods of time without the need for refrigeration. The award recognizes the impact of this solution for the entire packaging industry, and the food and beverage sector.

Accelerating innovation on circularity means working as an industry to turn more used beverage cartons into resources and keep them in circulation. SIG is committed to the ten industry commitments of the ambitious 2030 roadmap from the Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment (ACE), including at least a 70% recycling rate of used beverage cartons in the EU verified by third parties. The Palurec PolyAl recycling plant in Germany launched by the Fachverband Kartonverpackungen für flüssige Nahrungsmittel e.V. (FKN – Association for Beverage Cartons), which began operating in 2021 through joint investment of the three major beverage carton manufacturers, is an important contributor to carton recycling in Europe. The facility transforms PolyAl (the plastic-aluminum mix recovered from used beverage cartons) into marketable raw materials. The award recognizes the important contribution SIG and industry partners are making to increase recycling of used beverage cartons in Europe.

Stefan Mergel, Head of Global Sustainability and Digital Marketing at SIG: “SIG is honored by these circularity awards from 4evergreen that are a testament to our commitment to circularity in the beverage carton industry. We are continuously striving to improve our offering through sustainable innovation and push our industry towards a more sustainable packaging future. I would like to thank our dedicated teams for their hard work and vision, and our industry partners for joining us on this journey.”