AMB Spa, headquartered in San Daniele del Friuli in northern Italy, is an international supplier of sustainable solutions for rigid and flexible films. AMB delivers an innovative ‘all in one place’ approach that covers the complete packaging process: packaging design, prototyping, toolmaking, high-barrier rigid and flexible film production and printing. With its focus on sustainability, the company is committed to finding solutions that close the loop of the circular economy. 

It is expected that the demand for bottle-to-bottle recycling from the bottle industry will use up to 0.5 million tonnes of rPET, therefore causing shortages for the production of recycled tray material. In collaboration with an Italian recycler, AMB launched an initiative to collect the material from post-consumer trays with the aim to promote the circularity of the food PET trays. This material is broken down into flakes which are then used to manufacture a tray-to-tray product. As the demand for PET flakes is continuously growing, European design recycling guidelines for multilayer PET/PE transparent trays are currently being developed.

To ensure the exceptional quality of the final trays, the raw material comes from 95% of food trays stream and undergoes a strict process of analysis. Post-consumer tray material is processed to avoid contaminations, and the quality of the flakes is then evaluated. AMB assesses the material for its impact on the extrusion process and its mechanical performance. Additionally, the new film is subject to controls that evaluate its optical aspect and quality as well as its impact on the thermoforming process. All these checks ensure that AMB customers can rely on the outstanding quality of the final trays: mechanical performance and thermoforming performance on FFS remain unchanged, and the gauge remains the same as for standard PET/PE or Mono PET. AMB Tray Revive drives the tray recyclability and helps AMB customers to boost their green credentials and attract retailers and consumers, who are increasingly heedful of environmentally friendly packaging solutions.