Circular Economy Saudi Introduces First Bread Packaging Made from Fully Recycled Plastic

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Sabic, Napco and a leading player of the bakery industry in Saudi Arabia Fonte have joined hands and introduced the country’s first ever bread packaging made from fully recycled post-consumer plastic. Sabic’s certified circular polyethylene have been used to package the Oat Arabic Bread.

Sittard/The Netherlands – Sabic has announced the successful roll-out of the first circular packaging project in Saudi Arabia as part of its Trucircle program to accelerate the implementation of a circular plastic economy. Fonte, a major player of the bakery industry in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), has introduced bread bags made with Sabic’s certified circular polyethylene (PE) in their Oat Arabic Bread. The bags are made by Napco National, a vertically integrated Saudi manufacturer of flexible film and packaging products, using two food-contact certified circular polyethylene resin grades (LLDPE) from Sabic’s Trucircle portfolio. Following the kick-off of the joint project in March 2023 and successful completion of the trial phase at Napco, Fonte has started to introduce the flexible bags to stores throughout Saudi Arabia.

The new Fonte bread bags incorporate 100 % mass balanced certified content of recycled feedstock from mixed post-consumer used plastics, which is converted into pyrolysis oil in an advanced recycling process. Sabic then uses the oil in the production of new polymers with the same purity and quality as traditional virgin plastics at the company’s plant in Jubail, KSA.

Sanjay Mishra, who heads the ETP and Performance Polymers business at Sabic, states: “With our Trucircle program, we are pushing for innovative business models to transform our industry from a linear to a circular one and help prevent the valuable material of end-of-life plastic applications from being wasted. Within a relatively short time, this remarkable joint project has shown what can be achieved to make this vision come true if all players work together to maximize post-consumer plastic recycling and sustainability. Moreover, the project also addresses a major trend towards more sustainable food packaging in Saudi Arabia, and is the first circular packaging application of its kind in the country.”

Sabic’s circular materials are produced using mass balance accounting according to the International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC) Plus program, which follows a set of predefined and transparent rules for tracking the material flow across complex supply chains from the feedstock to the final application.

Chadi Radi, Senior Director at Napco National, comments: “Napco is firmly dedicated to the advancement of sustainable packaging across various sectors in the plastic industry within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and throughout the Gulf region. We understand the pressing need to address environmental challenges and are committed to supporting our customers in achieving their sustainability objectives. Through our innovative approach, we strive to develop packaging solutions that minimize environmental impact, promote circularity and maximize the value of the plastic life cycle. At Napco National, we welcome the advanced recycling route offered by Sabic as an opportunity to contribute to the circularity of plastics in flexible packaging films. This collaboration has led to a successful implementation of circular plastic film in the food sector.”

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