SABIC, a global leader in the chemical industry, has joined forces with Lamb Weston, a major global brand owner and producer of frozen potato products, in a closed-loop process designed to create low-weight sustainable packaging bags made with a thin coextrusion film structure. At least 60% of the packaging is made with polymers using bio-feedstock from used cooking oil (UCO).

The process starts with collection of UCO from Lamb Weston’s production, which is then converted to bio-feedstock to produce certified bio-renewable SABIC® HDPE (high-density polyethylene) and SUPEER™ mLLDPE (metallocene linear low-density polyethylene) polymers. Final packaging contains at least 60% UCO-based bio-renewable polymer material as part of SABIC’s TRUCIRCLE™ portfolio. Oerlemans Plastics, a member of OPACKGROUP, a specialized manufacturer of flexible films and packaging, converts these polymers to a multilayer PE film for Lamb Weston pre-fried frozen potato products.

Khaled Al-Jalawi, Global Director of Circular Economy Business at SABIC, states: “We are excited about the collaboration with Lamb Weston and OPACKGROUP in this closed-loop project. Such a project demonstrates the concept of circularity as it better utilizes the UCO to produce circular polymers that is designed for recyclability and via a closed loop approach.”

The new Lamb Weston retail packaging has an overall renewable feedstock content of at least 60%, which is certified from the polymers to the film. This is in line with the widely acknowledged International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC) PLUS mass balancing regime for tracking and tracing the renewable content in materials.

Sebastiaan Besems, VP Commercial EMEA from Lamb Weston comments: “Distributors, retailers and consumers have become increasingly conscious of their environmental impact and show a growing preference for more sustainable packaging. We have anticipated this trend and developed an industry-leading bio-circular retail packaging solution for our pre-fried frozen potato products that provides a highly responsible value proposition. As part of our ambitious sustainability plans and innovations for the frozen potato category, the brand’s new European retail pack is made with 60% bio-circular plastic originating from Lamb Weston’s used cooking oil and is ISCC PLUS certified. By using SABIC’s bio-renewable polymer, less and better packaging, this innovation reduces the carbon footprint of our retail bags by 30%, aligning with consumer expectations that FMCG brands are as environmentally friendly as possible. The success of this project also meets with our goals to halve our food waste, cut our overall product carbon footprint by 25% and move to more circular production by 2030.”

Laura Hanegraaf, Sales Manager at Oerlemans Plastics (subsidiary OPACKGROUP) adds: “The project solidifies the committed efforts we have undertaken with SABIC to promote low carbon and renewable products within our industry and represents a significant advancement. It allows us to offer our customers high-quality flexible film products made with renewable material from used cooking oil.”

The combination of 20% reduced film thickness - the resulting bags have an average unit weight of only 10 g - and the use of bio-renewable SABIC® PE enables approximately 30% lower carbon footprint than the previous bags for this application. The SABIC® HDPE resin in the film structure delivers high strength and flexibility, while the SUPEER mLLDPE resin lends excellent bag sealing. Both materials comply with the requirements of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the U.S. Federal Drug & Food Administration (FDA) for food-contact.

Following extensive testing and evaluation, the first frozen potato products packed in bags made with Oerlemans’s multi-layer film using certified renewable PE polymers from SABIC have been launched by Lamb Weston in September in the UK and the Netherlands.