Hoffmann Neopac, a global provider of high-quality packaging for pharma, beauty and oral care, has won two awards from the European Tube Manufacturers Association (ETMA). One accolade recognized a current customer application housed in a sustainable yet sleek solution; the other awarded a groundbreaking sustainability solution on the verge of market launch in Fall 2022.
In the Plastics category, Neopac was recognized for a project with Swiss brand Liebwerk, which chose Neopac’s PICEA Tube with digital print decoration for its vegan botanical toothpaste. PICEA is the only sustainable tube solution that allows consumers to actually touch and feel the incorporated sustainable material due to the tactile saw dust and specially crafted surface.
Neopac’s PICEA tubes combine spruce saw dust waste with a plastic matrix of sugar-based raw materials. In total, the tube is composed of 95.8% renewable materials, and a CO2 footprint analysis revealed PICEA™ uses 38.9% less carbon dioxide over its lifecycle than traditional polyethylene (PE) tubes. The PICEA tube has attained Ecocert and Cosmos certifications, as well as EU Food Grade status. For Liebwerk, the combination of the PICEA material and digital printing was a market first, and ideally suited its nature-loving brand presence. To add further flourish, the wood-containing tube is sold together with a wooden toothbrush – a sustainable oral care set that stands out on crowded store shelves.
Meanwhile, a polypropylene (PP) version of Neopac’s Polyfoil MMB mono-material barrier tube won the Prototypes category. Featuring a high-performance PP laminate that provides superior product protection and is ready to recycle, Polyfoil MMB PP can offer either a luxurious soft-touch coating or a shiny metallized body. True to its name, the Polyfoil® MMB PP series also includes convenient PP caps, pumps and applicators, meaning the entire package is recyclable in common rigid PP streams. The result is a novel combination of product protection, user friendliness and appealing aesthetics that exemplifies a marked advancement in eco-conscious materials technology. In fact, the tube is the first of its kind to be approved by the EU’s discerning RecyClass sustainability verification organization. Compared with Neopac’s conventional Polyfoil tubes, Polyfoil MMB PP tubes reduce carbon footprints as much as 40%. This is due to a combination of factors, including its aluminum-free recyclability and minimized tube wall thickness.
