Parkside has launched Popflex, a recyclable lidding film designed to address two major pain points for fresh produce packers and growers: recyclability and consumer convenience.

The sustainable flexible packaging solutions provider said its Popflex design tackles the recyclability challenge by remaining attached to its matching polyethylene terephthalate (PET) tray during recycling.

This eliminates contamination of other plastic streams, making the On-Pack Recycling Label-certified solution simple for consumers as they can just throw the entire pack into their kerbside recycling bin.

Convenience is further enhanced by Popflex's incorporation of Parkside's patented ParkScribe technology. This creates a laser-scored opening flap that consumers can easily press down, pop open, and peel back for effortless access to their produce.

Popflex is crafted from recyclable PET (rPET) with a minimum of 30% post-consumer recycled (PCR) content.

It utilises a mono-PET structure, reducing plastic usage compared to Parkside's traditional lidding film. This translates to a more cost-effective solution while maintaining recyclability.

“Retailer guidelines increasingly demand easily recyclable packaging, and studies show widespread consumer confusion when it comes to which packaging components they can and can’t recycle,” said Steven Hallford, product development technologist at Parkside.

“In addition to its recyclability benefits, it was important for us to deliver the sort of product protection and accessibility performance that today’s consumers expect. The Popflex opening mechanism delivers on both counts, helping protect fresh produce through the cold chain and providing easy access to consumers,” added Hallford.

The launch of Popflex builds on Parkside's successful year of innovation. The company's award-winning and fully recyclable paper-based pack underscores Parkside's commitment to developing sustainable packaging solutions that meet the evolving needs of the fresh produce industry.