Lightweight, recyclable and sustainable: meet Shrink Life Cycle Analysis

Did you know that Valgroup beverage packs emit less carbon dioxide than carbonic gas compared to many other materials used for packaging? This contributes to the reduction of global warming and CO2 emission rates on the planet.

Would you like to know how?

Sustainability is a growing concern. It is increasingly evident that consumers and companies are more aware of their role in socio-environmental aspects.

Facing this issue, it is necessary to be prepared to offer products and services that minimize the impacts at the time of production and develop innovations for a beneficial conversion in the environment.

You may have heard of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). This study enters this scenario as one of the most relevant tools for structured and sustainable growth. Analyzing the environmental impacts of a product throughout its life cycle, in addition to legal requirements, enables better decision making in relation to processes and tangible actions in sustainability.

Valgroup, one of the largest producers, processors and recyclers of plastic packaging in the world; evaluated the potential environmental impacts of its Shrink 12-can plastic film packaging compared to competitor’s 12-can carton packs in general, pioneering the evaluation of this product in Brazil.

According to the study commissioned by Valgroup to EnCiclo Soluções Sustentáveis – a company specialized in environmental management focused on projects under the view of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) – 17 environmental indicators were analyzed, among them, global warming potential, which represents the potential of a product to generate climate change.

Among the key results extracted from Valgroup Shrink’s LCA, we’ve separated some highlights that prove the product’s potential when compared to carton packaging:

– Shrink can deliver the same strength and flexibility as carton packs, even though it uses much less raw material in its production.

– The carton package consumes 6 times more water and 3 times more energy for its production and needs twice as many inks and solvents.

– Shrink is light, about 30% less than carton packaging. For this reason, shrink uses less raw material in its production, positively impacting the product logistics.

– Carton degradation in landfills has the potential to emit 3 to 4 times more than shrink packaging, which makes the carbon footprint of carton packaging greater than the shrink packaging.

– Shrink has great potential for recycling because of its composition of 100% polyethylene resins.

This is part of our sustainable commitment, linked to the environmental goal of to be Net Zero by 2040, neutralizing carbon emissions and recycling the equivalent of 100% of the amount of packaging produced, effectively contributing to the circular economy by removing plastic waste from the environment.