By Agatha Wong
In 2018, the Singapore government found that one-third of some 1.6 million tonnes of domestic waste disposed was made up of packaging. More specifically, while more than half of the packaging disposed was made of plastic, only 4% of it was recycled. In a bid to remedy this situation, government bodies have introduced initiatives designed to spur the rate of recycling in Singapore.
The most common issue facing recycling is the lack of knowledge on the materials and packaging which can be recycled, and the ways plastic is recycled. And while the Singapore government is hard at work generating greater awareness on plastic reduction and recycling, there is also much that packaging manufacturers can do to improve the situation.
Recycling made easy
In a bid to support recycling and sustainability efforts, Tobe Packaging has launched ecolefin, a mono-material packaging solution. With its full polyethylene (PE) structure, ecolefin can replace multi-layered material packaging which cannot be recycled, while offering properties such as barrier and strength. Currently, Tobe Packaging is the first company in Singapore to successfully commercialise mono-material packaging.
“There are three advantages to ecolefin. Firstly, according to Futamura LCA data, in order to produce nylon film, it requires five times more energy as compared to PE. This can result in reduced carbon footprint. In addition, the amount of energy needed to seal a packaging is lower. Companies can thus save on electricity. Secondly, ecolefin has superior barrier properties compare to traditional packaging, and the oxygen transmission rate (OTR) value is more than ten times better compared to traditional nylon vacuum packaging. Lastly, ecolefin is a mono-material which makes it recyclable. It was also certified that it is 97% recyclable according to EN13430 standard,” said Lim Ziehui, director of Tobe Packaging.
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