A new product design from Alpla (Hard / Austria; www.alpla.com) named “The Simple One” has now won two awards. A special prize from Altstoff Recycling Austria (ARA, Vienna; www.ara.at) as part of the national “Smart Packaging” award was announced in November 2018, and on 7 March 2019, it received the biennial European Association of Plastics Recycling and Recovery Organisations (EPRO, Brussels / Belgium; www.epro-plasticsrecycling.org) award for innovation. The ceremony took place in London at the “IdentiPlast” (www.identiplast.eu) conference for plastics waste recycling and recovery. The other EPRO award for sustainability this year went to Orkla Home and Personal Care (Oslo / Norway; www.orkla.com) for its “Jordan Green Clean Toothbrush” made of post-consumer recycled plastics and bio-based filaments.

Alpla’s The Simple One bag weighs up to 60% less than a standard HDPE bottle, which means lower CO₂ emissions in the course of production, transport as well as recycling after consumption. It also saves material by forgoing a cap – the bag is instead cut open at the edge when pouring out the contents. The extrusion blow-moulded packaging is produced from a single layer of recyclable HDPE, though multiple layers are also possible. It comes with a stretch sleeve, which eliminates the need for glue and makes the product fully recyclable. The bag is particularly suitable for single-use application in home care products, though it can also be used for refills.