Ice River Sustainable Solutions: Increasing Recycled Content in Flexible Film

CPP Roadmap Target #4

Project Timeline

2020 – ongoing

The Circular Solution 

Ice River Sustainable Solutions is a Canadian family-owned company committed to bottling natural spring water, with a focus on sustainability and recycling PET plastic.

The company has taken significant steps towards achieving this objective by venturing into LDPE (low-density polyethylene) resin and investing in a state-of-the-art blown film technology to start introducing recycled content into its own collation shrink film. This thin gauge, high-strength engineered film reduces plastic and eliminates the cardboard packaging required to package heavy products.

Ice River Sustainable Solutions worked with Loblaw Companies Limited, who collects back-of-house and front-of-house film, as well as NOVA Chemicals for technical expertise, to find an end market for its flexible film that does not require food-grade recycled content.

By working with suppliers and collectors, the company has found an end market for its flexible film, keeping it in the value chain and out of the environment.

Outcomes

In 2020, Ice River Sustainable Solution achieved 20% recycled content in the testing phase and introduced recycled content to help build a stable end market that keeps flexible film in the value chain and out of the environment.  By 2022, the company achieved 30% recycled content into its film at the testing level.  Throughout the year 2022, Ice River Sustainable Solutions averaged approximately 19% recycled content in the film produced (combination of PIR & PCR material).

Next Steps

Ice River Sustainable Solutions’ goal is to continue increasing recycled content in its film with a focus on PCR in 2023.

The company has also been working with its customers to reduce the print coverage on its film to improve recyclability and reduce the consumption of ink and solvent.