Developed by the company’s Centre of Excellence at its UK headquarters in Kidlington, the announcement follows the trial of 36 different materials in the first 12 months of operation, including three that were related to PCR, and a further five involving Nylon. Certain bio-woods and Polylactic Acids (PLA) materials have also been tested.
On average, the team has been conducting one new trial every week since the Centre opened last year. One of the innovations, in collaboration with business start-up FlexSea, explores how seaweed-derived bioplastics could be used as the source of a new range of Essentra products.
Jennifer Spence, ESG director at Essentra, said that many valuable lessons are being learned: “Many of the products we are trialling and firms we are partnering with are very new and experimental. Certainly, our customers want their products to be more sustainable, but they don’t want performance to be compromised, and the skill of our team is in finding the right balance.”
More broadly, IET Combustion, a manufacturer of combustion ovens, turned to Essentra Components to provide hinges, latches and handles to make its ovens safer to use.
A family-run business based in Australia, IET Combustion manufactures large stainless-steel combustion ovens for the global food industry. In the US, it has an exclusive contract with PepsiCo to supply stainless-steel ovens and proofers to food manufacturing plants around the world.
IET Combustion’s ovens operate 24/7, each producing three tonnes of crisps per hour. It previously relied on three different distributors to provide its access hardware, which led to high prices, inconsistent stock levels, and late deliveries. The quality of its handles also created problems – heat from the oven was transferring to the ovens’ handles, slowing down production and flagging health and safety issues.
