December 05, 2017

Less plastic, more AdBlue – Yara wins environmental award for packaging solution

Yara received the Environmental Protection and Improvement Award for its AdBlue® Pouch for the Passenger Car Market at the APEA Live 2017.
AdBlue for passenger cars
AdBlue for passenger cars

Anticipating the rapidly booming demand for AdBlue® for Passenger Cars, Yara has developed a custom-designed packaging solution with considerably less plastic than conventional AdBlue® canisters.

AdBlue® is a fluid used to remove harmful NOx emissions from diesel engines. Only this year some 3 million new diesel cars using AdBlue to clean the exhaust will hit the European roads. Drivers will head for relevant retail outlets – like fuel stations – to refill their vehicles, resulting inevitably in millions of empty AdBlue® containers.

Consuming almost 200g less plastic than the alternative AdBlue® canister – the pouch delivers a 74% saving on a like-for-like basis.

Patent pending, the AdBlue® by Yara pouch is a bespoke, integrated design for AdBlue® refills. Featuring no loose parts or coupling devices it dispenses the fluid fast and effortlessly into the vehicle’s tanks. Once emptied, the pouch is completely flat, taking up virtually no space. Compared to rigid canisters this is a major benefit for the retailer – who would otherwise be lumbered with virtual mountains of plastic canisters on their forecourts. And for society at large the benefit is equally meaningful – the pouch having minimal impact on landfills.

Yara has developed a custom-designed packaging solution with considerably less plastic than conventional AdBlue® canisters. Once emptied, the pouch is completely flat.

AdBlue canister

APEA is the Association for Petroleum and Explosives Administration with membership from all quarters of the petroleum industry, including Regulators from National and Local Government. Authorities, Oil Companies, Equipment Manufacturers and Suppliers, Service and Installation Organisations, Training Establishments and many others. The APEA Environmental Protection and Improvement Award “… recognizes individuals, organizations, products or services that have had the biggest positive impact on environmental protection during the past 12 months …”.

Yara’s Business Manager in the UK, Paul Norman stated: “I am honoured that our new packaging solution has been recognized as an innovative and effective approach to the NOx emissions issue. The citizens of the UK, as well as elsewhere, have a right to clean air. AdBlue® provides that – and packed in our pouch it does so leaving a minimal CO2 footprint.”

A world leader in the emissions reduction area, Yara is already supplying the heavy-duty vehicles with AdBlue® by Yara, removing dangerous NOx from the exhaust.

“The big AdBlue® tanks on trucks, lorries and buses are largely served through bulk dispensers. Passenger Cars have smaller tanks and bulk dispensers are less feasible. Protecting the planet is Yara’s Mission. With the pouch we have developed a means to manifest our mission in practice: Diesel cars emit less of the greenhouse gas CO2 than petrol cars. With AdBlue® by Yara the dangerous NOx is removed. And packed in a pouch it leaves less plastic. Less waste.”


AdBlue® is a registered trademark of the Verband der Automobilindustrie e.V. (VDA).