Cool-Ice Eco Ice Packs – What & Why?
Cool-Ice® water bottle ice packs are aimed at the ecommerce food/meal-kit/ingredients home delivery sector, whereby boxes have to be insulated and contain coolants to keep the food inside either chilled or frozen… and YES, they really work!
Cool-Ice® delivers refrigeration for the food delivery system in the form of a frozen spring water bottle used as an ice pack. Made from recyclable Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), Cool-Ice® bottles are both recyclable and reusable by end users in domestic premises. PET plastics are accepted by ALL UK councils for recycling, which means that Cool-Ice® water bottle ice packs are 100% kerbside recyclable, just like CoolBox®.
Strength & Power
Cool–Ice® bottle ice packs are scientifically under-filled by 8-9%. This is to prevent the bottle from bursting upon freezing and gives the frozen pack extra strength due to its reduced burst risk.
In addition, we have extensively tested to make sure we fill these ice packs with the perfect volume of water to ensure that Cool-Ice® has a uniform freeze. This prevents any distortion of shape during transit, and also means that Cool-Ice® bottles are perfectly filled to deliver the same power as a 500g water/gel ice pack!
The fact thatCool-Ice® reusable ice packs are a non-toxic, eco alternative to gel ice packs – they are 100% kerbside and home recyclable with ALL local councils and can be marketed as a free ice cold drink for your customers – an added bonus!
Eco Ice Pack Credentials
NO ice pack in the e-food and ecommerce delivery sector; water or gel ice, anywhere in the world, is kerbside recyclable!
Even with the technology we have today, pure paper based ice packs have not yet been invented (although it’s something we’re working on!) Anyone who thinks they’ve seen a paper ice pack, take a look inside – they are not recyclable in their ice pack state as they are lined with essential materials to stop them leaking. This means that they cannot be accepted at domestic recycling plants. Traditional water or gel ice packs that use plastic casings also fall into this category, as the plastic film is also not accepted for kerbside recycling.
Both of these types of ice pack have to be sent to specialist recycling schemes by the end user to be split apart for recycling, but they may mistakenly think they can go into the recycling bin and as such the ice packs will end up in landfill, the same as any put straight into the general waste bin.
Did you know…
- An excess of 40m water or gel ice packs made of an unrecyclable LDPE film go directly to landfill each year in the UK alone.
- 60% (and rising) of PET bottles are recycled each year in the UK, vs only 6% of all LDPE film (which is what traditional ice packs are made from).
- The UK government have been advised by the environmental think-tank ‘WRAP’ to set a target of 75% PET bottles recycled by 2025 – a number far more tenable if we all switch to using this type of plastic as opposed to non-recyclable alternatives.
With this in mind, and with an obvious need to reduce/stop the amount of water or gel ice packs that end up in landfill, we created Cool-Ice® – the first reusable, refillable, drinkable, kerbside recyclable bottle ice pack designed for food shipments on the market!
By creating Cool-Ice®, we believe we are solving an inherent ice pack/LDPE film waste issue! No more customer confusion, no more false claims, simply reuse it, drink it or recycle it….at home!
What’s Wrong With My Current Ice Packs?
Why is Cool-Ice a Water Bottle?
Cool-Ice® Spring Water Bottle Ice Packs are far more environmentally friendly than your current water or gel ice packs, and just as effective at keeping foodstuffs chilled or frozen to the correct temperatures during transit (if not more). The water bottle shape stops leakage or bursting and is much more user friendly for home consumers to reuse, refill or recycle.
- Problem: Your current ice pack is made from either LDPE plastic or Nylon, neither are Kerbside or home recyclable – not good for the planet!
- Solution: Cool-Ice is made from UK Sourced PET Plastic; with a minimum 30% recycled content and is 100% kerbside/home recyclable! A much eco-friendlier solution!
- Problem: Your current ice pack material is recycled less than 6% of the time…. and this figure is falling! Not good for the planet or our sustainability stats!
- Solution: PET Cool-Ice® Water Bottles have a recycling rate of more than 60% and increasing, with the UK targeting a 75% recycle rate by 2025. Wow!
- Problem: Your current water ice packs will most likely contain heavily chlorinated water or contain/grow bacteria (listeria, e-coli etc) over time. Not a nice thought!
- Solution: Cool-Ice® contains pure still spring water, perfect for drinking, cooking, watering the cat or dog, feeding the plants or simply reusing by the end consumer. Versatility and purity combined.
- Problem: Your current ice pack will often freeze into odd and distorted shapes and become an issue when packing/fitting into your box
- Solution: Cool-Ice® water bottle ice packs will not bulge or distort on freezing, so you always know the amount of room to leave to fit them in.
- Problem: Your current ice packs are highly susceptible to leakage, ruining your products and adding to your costs. Frustrating and expensive!
- Solution: Cool-Ice® water ice bottles are scientifically under-filled by 8-9%, reducing the potential for burst and leaks. They are designed to best even the clumsiest courier!
- Problem: Your current ice gel pack, is highly likely filled with a non-soluble polymer formula – these are not drain or animal friendly despite any claims to the contrary. This is the same gel that is widely used in nappies…. nice!
- Solution: ol-Ice® eco friendly ice packs are quite simply filled with pure natural spring water…. enough said!
Read On - It's So Good, We Bottled It
Whilst we continue to work at developing a ‘pure’ paper-based ice pack, we are also working to help the UK achieve that 75% recycling rate target we mentioned earlier.
To do this, we are working with both a distinguished natural spring water company and biggest plastic bottle recycling plant in the UK, actually the biggest in in all of Europe.
We passionately believe that innovation is key to improving the environmental situation and that we need to push for progress, not simply turn away and maintain this dire status quo. We could have easily created another standard, non-recyclable ice pack but this would have solved nothing and just added to the amount of ice packs going to landfill – our Cool-Ice® bottle ice packs actually provide our nation of foodies with a responsible, reusable ice pack, that’s kerbside and home recyclable, as well being a free ‘ice cold’ pure spring water drink if they so desire.
Cool-Ice® – the responsible choice
10%+ more power than an equivalent 500g block water or gel ice pack
Is a block of ice not simply just that – a block of ice? Wrong!
By enhancing the power of water as ice, we can improve its longevity and duration, which in turn is the vital key ingredient to unlocking efficient cooling inside your food box. As long as your insulated box is good enough, it will work with the ice pack to keep the food inside cool or frozen for longer, by protecting the life of the ice pack and promoting a longer thaw time.
How do ice packs work?
An ice pack is simply a block of water/gel that has been frozen to at least -18 degrees C, but water/gel really wants to be at 0°C, it’s where it’s happiest. So just like our own bodies, which have an optimum temperature of 37°C, water or gel will do what it has to do to get back to its happy temperature of zero – thaw!
Ice packs start to thaw the moment they leave the freezer – this process is inevitable so must be factored in when using for cold chain shipping. Once placed inside the food box, they take on any residual heat that is inside and also from the food contents they’re placed with. As a consequence, they then release cold air – this keeps the food items cool but aids the ice pack’s mission to thaw. As such, good insulation from the box is key, as this will keep the ice packs colder for longer and slow down their thaw time, as well as keeping released cold air inside the box.
See our CoolBox range for well insulated, eco-friendly cold chain packaging boxes.
Why bottle ice packs?
By freezing water in a bottle shape, which is essentially a thick tube, the rate at which it takes on energy/heat is slower. Therefore, the speed at which it releases its energy/cold air is slower too, making it last longer and keeping your box cooler for longer.
Read On - 10% More Efficient
Because we’ve encased the water in a more insulated PET plastic than current industry standard ice packs and in a more compact water bottle shape, the energy storage is far more efficient than a standard “flat” ice pack – the shape is relevant in this case, as it’s all about the steady cold air release and thaw time of the ice inside the pack.
Gram for gram, our 460ml/gram Cool-Ice® water bottle ice pack is actually 10% more efficient and powerful at cooling your food box than a standard shaped water or gel ice pack made from LDPE plastics
Cool-Ice® Results
How do Cool-Ice® bottle ice packs react under pressure?
Watch our videos of simple controlled duration testing and drop testing of Cool-Ice® eco-friendly ice packs against the leading industry standard gel packs.
Duration testing
Our scientifically under-filled water bottle (circa 8-9% less than full), performs the same as a 500g gel ice pack, which actually means in relative terms, gram for gram, it out-performs the industry leading ice gel packs by more than 10%! That’s amazing when you think the contents are simply pure Spring water!
Drop testing
We’ve all experienced leaking ice packs, and the resulting mess is not something anyone wants to deal with. Watch this simple drop test as to how Cool-Ice® reacts to being dropped, compared to the fact that 10 out of 10 times a conventional ice pack will split, burst and leak if dropped (couriers do drop boxes, multiple times, so best to protect against such scenarios if possible).
Simple but Controlled Cool-Ice® Duration Test
Play VideoSimple but Controlled Cool-Ice® Drop Test
Why don’t we fill Cool-Ice® bottles to the top?
When freezing water turns into ice, it will expand by as much as 9% in volume, with nothing and no one able to stop it!
Because it is such a powerful force of nature, it’s important to leave room for this expansion. We have used PET bottles because they enable Cool-Ice® to be a recyclable ice pack and because PET is durable and strong, but it would be unable to contend with ice expansion if it was completely full.
Most bottles will burst, pop their lids, or become brittle when frozen, which is why we’ve extensively tested Cool-Ice® bottles at different volumes and freezing times to formulate the perfect ratio of water to bottle size. We’ve done the science, teamed up a natural spring water company and brought you our patent pending innovation – Cool-Ice® water bottle ice packs.
Healthy and Eco Friendly Ice Packs
Cool-Ice® bottle ice packs are bottled at the source of a registered pure UK Spring Water plant, which contains all the rich sources of minerals that natural springs contain. By bottling fresh at source, we ensure the ice packs remain pure, the mineral content remains rich, and we provide a fresh source of water, to drink, feed your pets or simply water your plants. Customers have the end choice to reuse, recycle or refill – or even drink them!
Once Cool-Ice® bottle ice packs have lived their lives, they can then be disposed of responsibly by simply recycling in a recycle bin at home, at work or in the street.
This means that we bring you not just a pure, fresh, clean and mineral rich ice pack, we also bring you free mineral rich, healthy ice cold drink for your customers too.
There isn’t another ecommerce ice pack on the market that can offer the same credentials as Cool-Ice®!
Sample Cool-Ice Packs
If you want to try Cool-Ice® before you buy, we offer free samples for every customer as a one off offer – just pay postage.
