SABIC, Lamb Weston Collaborate on Low-Weight Sustainable Packaging

• The collaboration is a result of increased consumer demand for sustainable packaging.
• The packaging complies with safety standards set by authorities in Europe and the US.

SABIC, a global chemical manufacturing company based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, has partnered with Lamb Weston, a producer of frozen potato products in the US, to innovate low-weight sustainable packaging.

The lightweight packaging is made from a special type of plastic film that has at least 60% bio-based content sourced from used cooking oil (UCO).

Production Process

The process starts with Lamb Weston collecting UCO from their production. Then, the oil is transformed into bio-feedstock to create two types of sustainable plastics: SABIC® HDPE and SUPEER™ mLLDPE.

Packaging with these plastics has at least 60% bio-renewable content, categorised under SABIC’s TRUCIRCLE™ programme.

These materials are turned into a flexible film by Oerlemans Plastics, part of OPACKGROUP, for Lamb Weston to use in their frozen product packaging.

Khaled Al-Jalawi, Global Director of Circular Economy Business at SABIC, states: “We are excited about the collaboration with Lamb Weston and Opack Group in this closed-loop project. Such a project demonstrates the concept of circularity as it better utilize the UCO to produce circular polymers that is designed for recyclability and via a closed loop approach.”

Sebastiaan Besems, VP Commercial EMEA at Lamb Weston, states that there is a growing demand for sustainable packaging. Their new lightweight bags are designed to reduce carbon footprint and are certified to meet environmental standards.

Benefits of New Packaging

• The new lightweight bags come with 20% reduced thickness and have an average weight of just 10 grams.
• They reduce more carbon emissions (30%) than the older packaging.
• The materials used are safe for food packaging and designed according to strict environmental standards set forth by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the U.S. FDA for food contact.

The partnership aims to support a circular production process and is a huge step toward welcoming more sustainable packaging solutions in the food industry.

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Source: Lamb Weston