Behind Amcor & Mespack's New Recyclable 2L Home Care Pouch

Amcor, the global packaging manufacturer and Mespack have partnered to release a recycle-ready two litre stand-up pouch for the home care industry. 

Specifically designed for products like laundry detergent, cleaners and soaps, this pouch embodies both advanced manufacturing innovation and sustainable progress.

By combining Amcor's packaging materials and Mespack's machinery, both companies have overcome the technical challenges surrounding the scalability of recycle-ready materials for larger flexible packaging formats.

Now available for the Home Care market, the stand-up pouch has been subject to extensive testing and trials and signifies the start of an era of greater scalability for sustainable packaging.

The challenge of durability

The largest formats available for pouches using sustainable materials has historically been limited to volumes between one and 1.5 litres. 

Thanks to Amcor and Mespack's pouch this volume has been increased to two.

Expanding this capacity was an important consumer concern that came with a set of manufacturing challenges.

Durability was a critical concern, with there being a strong need to ensure leak prevention and drop resistance. 

This is because recycled materials often offer less durability than non-recycled counterparts, because the recycling process itself downgrades materials.

The fibres of recycled paper are shortened during the recycling process, making the resulting material weaker. 

Of course when you're storing cleaners, soaps and laundry detergent durability is a pivotal concern. You don't want the packaging to collapse and the product to be wasted. 

So, to tackle this challenge surrounding durability Amcor and Mespack R&D teams underwent extensive collaboration. 

The new 2L pouches are made using Amcor's AmPrima® recycle-ready solutions, offering sustainable packaging with superior durability in addition to quality, speed and performance.

These solutions meet the European Union’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) requirements for recycling design and can optionally include post-consumer recycled (PCR) content.

Using Mespack's highly versatile and state-of-the-art H570 machine, trials were conducted. A critical element of larger format pouches is temperature control to ensure an effective seal.

Mespack's highly versatile and state-of-the-art H570 machine is specifically designed to accommodate more sustainable materials.

Using this machine, precise temperature control and a newly developed metal alloy, both teams determined the exact temperature needed to seal the larger recyclable pouch. 

The H570 also ensured the packaging was leak-proof, by offering precise adjustments to ensure perfect seals across all spout and jaw preheating technology.

This in turn ensured the integrity and quality of the spout steal. 

"As consumers and regulators ask for more environmentally-friendly products, we continue to drive innovation in everything we do," says Geoffrey Gendebien, Marketing Manager for Home and Personal Care at Amcor.

"The recycle-ready 2L spouted stand-up pouch is a great example of where collaboration, technology and material development has created a new packaging option that was previously not possible.

“Flexible spouted pouches use less plastic than containers and bottles. They also enable consumers to refill the bottles they already have over and over again, resulting in a lower packaging carbon footprint.

"Refill pouches can also appeal to cost-conscious consumers looking to offset inflation. The significance of this packaging innovation for home Care brands and their customers is brilliant to see.”

Through innovation and collaboration, the stand-up pouch was born.

A creation which is more than just a useful product- but rather a demonstration of future possibilities when it comes to manufacturing sustainable packaging.

Why this pouch matters: Scalability & sustainability

Why does this pouch matter? First and foremost, it challenges one of the biggest concerns surrounding sustainable alternatives and innovations- scalability. 

It demonstrates that with innovation, recycled materials can be utilised within larger and higher-volume applications.

In fact, because of the way this packaging design enables efficient filling and sealing, it's more than just capable of being used in higher-volume applications-it's ideal for them.

The pouch minimises production costs, downtime and enhances production efficiency by requiring less energy and materials to be produced than traditional containers. 

This is without even touching the sustainability benefits of these pouches. By using mono-material construction, they are significantly easier to recycle within existing recycling systems compared to conventional multi-layered plastics which are notoriously hard to recycle. With the lightweight structure of the pouches they can be shipped more efficiently, reducing transportation emissions and carbon footprints across the supply chain.

Amcor and Mespack are supporting circular economy goals and meeting consumer and regulatory demand for reliable, durable and eco-friendly packaging. 

They are also demonstrating that sustainability doesn't equal sacrifice.

With manufacturing innovation, we can protect the planet whilst creating and using products that meet needed standards of durability, performance and quality.

This is a truth recognised at both Amcor and Mespack. 

"This achievement marks a significant milestone not just for Mespack and Amcor, but for the entire flexible packaging industry," says Guillem Lloret, Innovation Director at Mespack. 

"By pushing the boundaries of what is possible with more sustainable materials, we are moving closer to a more eco-friendly future.

"The successful validation of the 2L pouch is a testament to the power of collaboration and innovation. We look forward to seeing this packaging solution adopted across the Home Care industry and beyond."

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