Denim packaging nominated for UK award
Cumbrian papermaker and technical fibre producer James Cropper’s recycled denim packaging, Rydal Apparel, has been shortlisted for two prizes at this year’s UK Packaging Awards.
Rydal Apparel is in the running for both Best New Concept and the Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative of the Year awards. The product forms part of the business’ “premium” Rydal packaging range and is made from a blend of 20% post-consumer denim fibre and 80% recycled fibres “from sources such as used coffee cups”.
The paper is therefore not only 100% recycled, but also globally recyclable in “standard waste streams” thanks to its cellulosic nature, James Cropper says. The company’s FibreBlend Upcycled Technology, including CupCycling, is key to its production. Announcing the news of Rydal Apparel’s shortlisting, the mill described itself as “first” to undertake the upcycling of used textiles into luxury packaging paper.
At the time of its launch earlier this year, packaging project leader at James Cropper, Kate Gilpin, framed its appeal as follows: “Although modern papermaking relies heavily on pulps made from wood fibre, we are reviving the use of cotton rag in our portfolio as part of our ongoing commitment to fibre innovation and creating value from waste.
"Cotton is the purest form of natural cellulose and using cotton in paper harks back as far as Shakespeare’s first folio, which exists today because it was penned on paper made from cotton fibres.”
The prize-giving ceremony is scheduled to be held on October 19 in London.
James Cropper’s Rydal Apparel packaging. Credit: James Cropper.
