Oman-based PET resin and sheet producer Octal (Muscat; www.octal.com) has teamed up with film packaging company Südpack (Ochsenhausen / Germany; www.suedpack.com/en) and dairy group FrieslandCampina (Amersfoort / The Netherlands; www.frieslandcampina.com) to create a recyclable PET packaging solution for cheese.

The new form-fill-seal packaging for FrieslandCampina cheeses uses Octal’s “DPET” direct-to-sheet polyester sheet, replacing the laminated APET/PE structure used previously. Südpack has contributed its form-fill-seal technology. “This combined effort reduces packaging material as well as energy consumption and contributes to our sustainability targets,” FrieslandCampina states.

The DPET packaging is significantly lighter and 100% recyclable, without compromising packaging quality, Octal says. In addition, DPET production is claimed to use at least 60% less electrical energy than APET production. Octal's own DPET direct-to-sheet technology eliminates five energy intensive stages of the conventional sheet production process (pelletiser, solid-state polycondensation, compactor, dryer and extruder), the Oman producer claimed.