Scitech, Pulpex and BASF. An award-winning collaboration

The Brief: We were asked to create a fully recyclable paper bottle, with the same barrier performance as glass and plastic. It had to be suitable to package drinks like  water and whiskey, and household products, such as laundry detergent, shampoo and vitamin tablets. With such an ambitious brief, we couldn’t wait to get stuck in.

Pulpex and BASF approached us in 2020 because of our expertise and knowledge in water-based chemistry. They asked Scitech to convert BASF’s high-performance materials into coatings with the required functionality which could also be applied through Pulpex’s paper bottle-making process.

What Scitech did: We conducted numerous trials testing different formulations to achieve the performance that consumers expect from these well-known products. It was essential that we maintained the safety of the product contained (i.e. food contact approval) and ensured that the bottle could be recycled through standard kerbside recycling infrastructure. 

The recyclability of the bottle was particularly important because research from Cepi in 2022 found paper recycling rates to be over 70%, significantly higher than plastic recycling rates. The joint ambition was that creating a paper-based alternative for consumer goods currently packaged in recyclable plastics would increase the likelihood of the packaging actually being recycled.

The Results: The development of an innovative, sustainable product offering commercial and environmental advantages and the creation of a long-term partnership between Scitech, Pulpex and BASF. This project has been recognised by the Royal Society of Chemistry, and was awarded The 2024 Innovation Through Partnership prize. The project is currently in the scale-up and process optimisation stage, with plans to launch the first product range by the end of 2024.

Get in touch with the team to find out more.

Pioneering work with compostable adhesives

The Brief: Back in 2010, Scitech was the pioneering force behind the creation of the world’s first compostable laminating adhesive system for flexible packaging. 

We knew the multilayer laminates used in food packaging were causing a problem for the planet. They were hard to recycle and were contributing to the rapid growth in global plastic pollution. Evidence of the scale of the issue can be found in a 2022 report from the OECD which found that:

• Global plastics production doubled between 2000 and 2019 to reach 460 million tonnes. And so did the generation of plastic waste. Nearly two-thirds of plastic waste comes from plastics with lifetimes of under five years, such as packaging.

• Only 9% of plastic waste is recycled. 19% is incinerated, 50% ends up in landfill and 22% evades waste management systems and goes into uncontrolled dumpsites. 

This is bad news for the whole planet, but particularly for our aquatic environments. There is an estimated 30 metric tonnes of plastic waste in our seas and oceans, and a further 109 metric tonnes in our rivers. That’s why Scitech set out to find a solution to this environmental threat. 

The Results: In 2016, our compostable adhesive system hit the market. It was independently tested to the EN13432 standard for industrial composability.The Scitech system means that compostable packaging biodegrades into organic matter within six to twelve months and does not create microplastics in the environment. Our customers have achieved both home and industrial compostability certification by using our adhesive in their laminate structure. 

In 2020, we added a compostable heat seal to our portfolio of compostable grades, allowing our customers to produce compostable pouches for food and non-food products. We continue to innovate in this space to provide compostable solutions that can be applied across a number of packaging applications.

Get in touch with the team to find out more.