Giving thermoformed PET meat and produce trays a second life

September 18, 2024 -- Australia is one of the largest consumers of meat in the world, consuming an average of 23.7kg of beef per capita compared to the global average of 6.3kg¹. But our love for meat comes at a cost, producing an enormous amount of waste simply from the packaging it’s contained in.

Meat trays, along with fruit & vegetable punnets are commonly made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic which means they are cost effective to manufacture, are lightweight but durable, keep the produce fresh, and importantly, are recyclable.

Sadly though, about 90 per cent this packaging goes to landfill after use, even if consumers place it in their kerbside recycling bins. In fact, it’s estimated that of the 43,000 tonnes of trays placed on the Australian market, just 5,000 tonnes of this highly recyclable packaging was recovered for recycling in 2021-22.²

Even then, most of it was either downcycled for industrial products or co-mingled with other PET waste material and exported which does not achieve Australia’s aim of creating a domestic circular economy for plastic packaging.

Now Pact Group has teamed up with Hilton Foods, Woolworths Group and Cleanaway Waste Management to create a circular economy solution for Australia’s meat trays.

Our solution means for the first time in Australia, meat trays they can be collected, recycled and remanufactured into new meat trays ready for the supermarket shelves.

How does it work?

After used meat trays and punnets have been collected through kerbside recycling bins, they are sent to a Material Recovery Facility, compacted into bales and sent to the Pact-operated recycling facility in Victoria. Here, the trays and punnets are sorted, shredded into smaller pieces called flakes, washed and sanitised.

The flakes are then sent to a Pact Packaging manufacturing plant where they are pressed into thin sheets of recycled plastic which are ready to be moulded into their desired shape using thermoform technology. This sheet material is used to make the classic meat tray as well as other food containers ranging from bakery clams for cookies and cakes, and punnets for fresh fruit and vegetables.

These containers can be recycled time and time again, enabling a tray-to-tray solution for the first time in Australia.

Why is this important?

This process not only helps to divert thousands of tonnes of used plastic trays and punnets from landfills but also reduces the need to use virgin PET plastic made from fossil fuels.

Pact Group’s ability to provide a circular economy for PET plastics allows consumers to buy and dispose of the packaging their meat, fruit, and bakery items come in knowing 100% of their plastic waste can go back into circulation, contributing positively to Australia’s growing circular economy.

Pact Group is aiming to recycle more than 1,000 tonnes of used trays and punnets in our first year of production, which would divert the equivalent of around 48 million meat trays from landfills.

We hope to grow our tray-to-tray solution so all Australians can benefit from the positive environmental and economic impacts from recycling used plastic packaging and remaking it locally for our local businesses.

¹ State of the Industry Reports | Meat & Livestock Australia (mla.com.au)
² APCO Australian Packaging Consumption and Recovery Data 2021-22 (p97)

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