Consumers expect coffee producers to deliver on quality while they minimize their environmental impact. According to Amcor research, 73% of UK and 67% of Italian coffee drinkers see recyclability as the most important coffee packaging claim (1).

Along with consumer willingness to move toward more sustainable products, new sustainability regulations that directly affect FMCG packaging are being rolled out by legislators across Europe. On 30 November, the European Commission published a draft legislation, called the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), changing EU rules on packaging and packaging waste. The proposal sets out that all packaging must be designed to be recyclable (i.e. recycle-ready) by 2030, and be recyclable in practice and at scale by 2035. While the regulation is not yet final, the contents of the proposal give a good indication of the likely approach to key sustainability topics.

Our team is ready to help your brand make the shift to recycle-ready packaging today. In 2022, Amcor brought the AmPrima® Recycle-Ready Solutions portfolio to Europe. Coffee brands in Europe can now benefit from more sustainable packaging with maintained production efficiency and enhanced brand appeal.

On our journey to deliver more sustainable packaging solutions for our coffee customers, our partners represent important pieces of the puzzle. As a leading player in packaging machinery, Syntegon (formerly Bosch Packaging Technology) is equally commited to suporting coffee brands in realising their packaging sustainability goals.

Together, we brought to market a mono-PE vacuum pack for coffee that is designed to be recycled and is part of our AmPrima® PE Plus range for roast and ground coffee. The pack has a 71% carbon footprint reduction* and was made using the latest creasing and notching technology.

More sustainable packaging shouldn’t compromise on quality. We are proud that this pack responds to consumer demand for packaging that is easier to recycle, while preserving coffee’s aroma at its best.

The Amcor AmPrima® material was able to run at the same machine speeds as non-recyclable versions, surpassing other mono-PE options.

Our AmPrima® vacuum packs are recycle-ready today in most European countries, designed according to The Circular Economy for Flexible Packaging (CEFLEX) guidelines and certified by the Institute cyclos-HTP for recyclability in the real world.

AmPrima® PE Plus for roast and ground coffee is suited for all typical coffee pack formats and sizes, and is available with both lock/seal and peel options to protect freshness and aroma. According to our analysis, it has the potential to replace over 200 current non-recyclable coffee packaging specifications. And to improve circularity, AmPrima® for coffee now has the option to include food-contact grade recycled material, too.

Making the switch to a coffee packaging solution that is recycle-ready will help you get ahead of upcoming legislation in most European countries, and pursue your sustainability goals.

Watch the video to learn how the innovative AmPrima® Recycle-Ready material runs on Syntegon equipment:

How to get started on your Sustainability journey

To prepare for upcoming regulations, we encourage coffee brands to look for opportunities to use more sustainable packaging, design for recyclability and introduce recycled content when possible.

To get you started on this transition, you can take advantage of ASSET™, Amcor’s in-house life-cycle assessment tool certified by The Carbon Trust. ASSET™ gives you the data you need to understand the often invisible impacts of your coffee pack. You can compare, for example, the performance of our AmPrima® recycle-ready films, against a non-recyclable solution.

Switching to a pack that contains bio-based PE derived from sugar cane is another way to offer consumers a more sustainable cup, inside and out. Bio-based materials are renewable, which means they can be grown again. This is compared to traditional polymers, made from depletable fossil resources that contribute to exhausting the limited resources on the planet. Using bio-based resources lowers carbon footprint.

Find out more about how our customers introduced bio-based materials for their coffee lines.

Our coffee packaging experts are here to help you meet the rising expectations of your consumers. Get in touch with us today to talk about ways to partner on your sustainability journey, or find out more here.

(1) Amcor Role of Packaging research, May 2022.

*Comparison based on PETP12/ALU9/PP80 to OPE25/OPE-Y25/PE60. Cradle to grave comparison.