Amcor’s new AmLite laminate promises to reduce a pack’s carbon footprint by 64%

AmLite Ultra Recyclable is the latest addition to Amcor’s AmLite product line, which was first created in 2015 to provide metal-free barrier packaging that reduced the packaging’s carbon footprint.

Luca Zerbini, vice president of marketing, innovation, and sustainability at Amcor, said, “Our recyclable laminate delivers high-barrier protection, can be used on our customers’ filling machines, and can be recycled where polyolefin collection and recycling streams exist.”

AmLite can be used for a variety of formats, such as pillow pouches, stand-up and spouted pouches; bags; lidding for trays and containers; stick packs and more.

AmLite achieves a reduced carbon footprint by using an ultra-thin, transparent barrier coating to replace aluminium and metallised barriers. That change, combined with recyclability, can reduce a pack’s carbon footprint by up to 64% in a cradle-to-grave comparison between a foil laminate PET12 / Alu8/ PE75 and OPP20 AmLite / PE 70, the latter is 100% recyclable, according to Amcor.

AmLite Ultra Recyclable and AmLite Standard Recyclable are the first laminates in the AmLite product range to offer recyclability, adding two products to Amcor’s portfolio. AmLite Standard Recyclable, which provides medium- to high-barrier protection for ambient applications, is already on supermarket shelves thanks to some early adopter brands. AmLite Ultra Recyclable is now available for broader customer trials.

According to Amcor, the package is certified by cyclos-HTP Institute, an independent testing lab, to validate recyclability in real conditions.