home PACKAGING Food vacuum system containers use SABIC’s circular PP with ocean bound plastic content

Food vacuum system containers use SABIC’s circular PP with ocean bound plastic content

B!POD food vacuum containers with about 50% ocean-bound plastic content,
made with SABIC® PP polypropylene resin.

• Certified circular SABIC® PP polypropylene from advanced recycled ocean bound plastic (OBP) helps reduce marine litter and accelerate circularity.

• Sustainable material solution from SABIC’s TRUCIRCLE™ portfolio meets demanding performance specifications for food contact approved vacuum containers.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands, October 10, 2024 – SABIC, a global leader in the chemicals industry, reports that B!POD, a business unit of SAES Getters, has selected SABIC’s OBP-based polypropylene resin as the material for their containers. In close collaboration, the partners selected SABIC® PP 576P, a high-gloss grade from the company’s TRUCIRCLE™ portfolio of circular resins. The container material has an OBP feedstock content in the range of 50%.

Khaled Al-Jalawi, Global Director of Circular Economy Business at SABIC, states: “We are very pleased about working with SAES Getters to help consumers meet the challenge of improving food preservation with a powerful vacuum system that uses containers molded in OBP-based SABIC PP. The decision to replace standard virgin PP by our OBP material in the containers also marks a significant step towards greater sustainability, as it supports the transformation of the plastics economy towards circularity.”

The source of the OBP in SABIC’s material is abandoned used plastic collected in regions within 50 km of shorelines and then converted to plastic feedstock by means of advanced recycling. The PP resin produced with this recycle is supplied in natural color to C.E.L. (Costruzioni Elettromeccaniche Legnaghesi), a leading Italian player specializing in the processing of thermoplastic resins. C.E.L. adds special masterbatches to mold the B!POD containers in different sizes and several distinct custom colors. At the end of their service life, the reusable containers are fully recyclable in existing PP material streams.

Ginevra della Porta, Chief Innovation Officer at SAES Getters & co-founder of B!POD, comments: “This innovation embraces sustainability from the very concept to end use – with an advanced vacuum technology to minimize food waste, with SABIC’s OBP-based material that prevents used plastic from polluting our oceans, and with containers in a range of colors each dedicated to an endangered species, such as orangutan orange or whale grey, it is designed to raise the awareness of consumers. Moreover, our market research has indicated that reusable rigid containers for food preservation can potentially eliminate the consumption of more than 300 non-recyclable plastic bags per person and year, which corresponds to a per capita release of 30 kg of CO2 to the atmosphere.”

The selected OPB-based SABIC PP 576P resin is a food contact approved grade, free of PFAS and BPA. It offers ease of processing and delivers dimensionally stable parts with low warpage, good impact strength and high gloss as molded. The ocean-bound plastic based solution is fully certified under the International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC) PLUS chain of custody.

The sustainable B!POD containers molded in OBP based SABIC PP has been fully rolled out across the European Union, in Switzerland and the United Kingdom by mid-2024, with Asian countries to follow in 2025.

ABOUT SABIC
SABIC is a global diversified chemicals company, headquartered in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It manufactures on a global scale in the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Asia Pacific, making distinctly different kinds of products: chemicals, commodity and high performance plastics, and agri-nutrients.

SABIC supports its customers by identifying and developing opportunities in key end-use applications such as Mobility, Hygiene & Healthcare, Electrical & Electronics, Packaging, Agriculture, Consumer Products, and Building & Construction.

The company has close to 31,000 employees worldwide, serving customers in more than 140 countries. Fostering innovation and a spirit of ingenuity, SABIC has nearly 11,000 patents and pending applications, and has a global network of technology & innovation centers.

ABOUT B!POD
B!POD is the consumer innovations division of SAES Getters S.p.A., an advanced functional materials group specializing in the development, manufacturing and marketing of products and systems that require vacuum or pure gas conditions.

Building on the creative capacities of the SAES DesignHouse, a research and innovations laboratory inspired by nature and driven by science, B!POD seeks to leave a positive imprint by improving the integration between people and planet and providing simple solutions to complex problems. The company’s DRO!D food vacuum system challenges the status quo of food preservation and allows consumers to make a sustainable difference.

Headquartered at Lainate (Milan, Italy) and backed by sales and service centers across Europe, North America and Asia, SAES Getters operates 11 manufacturing facilities in Italy, Germany and the United States.

Visit https://bipod.it and www.saesgetters.com to learn more.