An SIG spokesperson told DairyReporter the 100% link to plant-based materials means that the polymers used for laminating the paperboard originate from renewable European wood sources and are certified according to ISCC PLUS (International Sustainability & Carbon Certification) or CMS 71 (TÜV SÜD certification standard), respectively, via a mass balance system.
This means that for the polymers used in the SIGNATURE PACK, an equivalent amount of bio-based feedstock went into the manufacturing of the polymers.
Markus Boehm, chief market officer at SIG Combibloc, said sales of consumer goods from brands with a demonstrated commitment to sustainability are growing much stronger than those without.
“These factors have been focal points for developing our SIGNATURE PACK. This is an important milestone in aseptic carton packaging.”
Better for the environment
The SIGNATURE PACK drives the replacement of conventional plastics from fossil fuels with certified and sustainable plant-based polymer materials.
Boehm said the company wants to offer the most sustainable packaging solutions available in the market.
“The SIGNATURE PACK is a logical next step towards replacing fossil fuel-based materials by renewable plant-based ones,” he said.
“We can offer our customers and the world’s consumers this more sustainable, innovative solution which better cares for the environment.”
How the calculations work
The spokesperson said conventional polymer producers run a large scale continuous production, offering a range of polymer grades.
"A switch to renewable feedstock offers wider polymer grade options, but can only be realized in an admixing manner due to supply volume limitations. Therefore we support accepted mass balance systems, which offer to link the credits of procured renewable feedstock (bio-based fuel) to polymer output via a virtual accounting system," the spokesperson said.
"By this we follow the logic and acceptance of similar systems and approaches used in renewable energy, FSC or fair traded cocoa.
"SIG decided to become ISCC Plus certified for all European carton production sites including the closure production as it provides a well-accepted set of traceability and feedstock certification standards that includes a mass balance system to credit for renewable feedstock use. Furthermore, we accept the CMS71 standard which similarly offers traceability via mass balancing."
In the context of the SIGNATURE PACK, the spokesperson continued, mass balancing means that a sufficient ISCC Plus-certified polymer material must be purchased from a certified supplier for the production of the new packs. They too are required to be certified under ISCC-Plus.
"The amount of SIGNATURE PACK packages is therefore limited to the amount of certified materials we buy. The mass balanced credits are transferred to SIG via invoice claims which reference the renewable feedstock basis for the renewable input in the chemical cracking operation.
"To ensure strict control and traceability, the internal accounting control system needed to be adapted to monitor the chain of custody of the materials."