Unilever has borrowed from an innovation used to recycle TV sets to tackle sachet waste.
Called CreaSolv Process, its technology has been developed as a way to turn sachets into plastic and channel them back into the supply chain.
Today, only 14 per cent of all plastic packaging is recycled globally, and Unilever has pledged to make 100 per cent of packaging recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025.
Billions of single-use sachets are sold every year, particularly in developing and emerging markets.
Sachets are resource-efficient and allow low-income consumers to buy small amounts of products that would otherwise be unaffordable, but without a viable recycling solution sachet packaging ends up in landfill or as litter.
CreaSolv Process technology has been adapted from a method used to separate brominated flame retardants from waste electrical and electronic equipment polymers.
During the process, the plastic is recovered from the sachet, and the plastic then used to create new sachets for Unilever products - creating a full circular economy approach.
Unilever will open a pilot plant in Indonesia later this year to test the long-term commercial viability of the technology.
It's looking to create a sustainable system change by setting up waste collection schemes to channel the sachets to be recycled.
