Top Editors ... Packaging: the sustainable approach

Title: Packaging: the sustainable approach
Date: 11/01/2008
Autor: by Claire Rowan

Packaging is the focus of extensive activity throughout the industry as food and drink manufacturers strive to reduce their impact on the environment

‘Sustainable’, ‘environmentally friendly’, and ‘energy efficient’ are key objectives in the industry today as consumer and retailer demand for such credentials increases. To this end, packaging has come under growing scrutiny and initiatives to reduce packaging and find alternative materials proliferate.
Retailers such as Walmart/Asda and Marks & Spencer have pledged a double-digit reduction of the packaging used for their own label products, while manufacturers in the UK such as Britvic, Cadbury Schweppes, Dairy Crest, Nestlé and Coca-Cola have signed a voluntary agreement to reduce packaging waste. Yet the issue is more complex than pure reduction.
“Often forgotten is the amount of food and other contents wasted. Here, smart packaging design (as opposed to ‘less’ packaging) can do a lot to ensure food quality, deliver the product in optimal quantity, and reduce the residual product that remains in the package once emptied,” said Pre-Stefan Gersbro, head of business development for the International Packaging Institute. He highlighted that in most cases, a residue of as little as 5% of product left in a pack results in a greater loss of energy due to product wastage than would be used to create the whole pack. “Optimising packaging, rather than minimising it, would contribute to less total waste over a product’s total life cycle,” he said.
A recent study by the Cucumber Growers Association demonstrates just this.
“Unwrapped cucumbers are not fit for sale just three days after being picked because of their rapid moisture loss. Shrink wrapping using less than 2g of film per cucumber increases shelf life so that fruit are fit for consumption for up to 14 days,” said Alison Waterhouse, network manager – sustainability, Faraday Packaging in the UK, which works to bring knowledge from academia to the packaging industry.
“Multiply this across the vast range of fresh food products available today and there is significant potential to reduce food waste.” Taking a holistic approach is advocated by Faraday Packaging, which reports that any packaging using resources and energy that are not 100% recovered, irrespective of the disposal route used for the pack, cannot
be considered truly sustainable.
“All packaging has a life cycle, typically comprised of resource use, production, transportation, consumption and then disposal. The most important issue is that manufacturers understand where the key impacts of their packaging occur and that they act proactively to minimise these impacts,” said Ms Waterhouse, who cited the example of glass manufacturer, Allied Glass Containers UK. “Reduction in the weight of its 70cl and 1.5 litre spirits bottles resulted in reductions in raw material use, reduction in energy usage during production and 1,900 fewer tonnes requiring disposal, all without any negative impact on customers or consumers,” she said.
One point of reference for assessing a pack’s environmental credentials is the Waste Hierachy Framework (established in the European Union’s Waste Framework), which can be used as a guide to reducing a pack’s impact in terms of materials use and disposal.
“The Framework provides a guide to the relative environmental impact of different options for waste management,” said Ms Waterhouse, who pointed out that disposal routes vary from country to country and within each country, depending upon the waste collection service provided by the local municipality. “Designing packaging that
is suitable for a range of disposal methods irrespective of the collection routes available means that the likelihood of disposal via landfill can be reduced. If it does turn out that the only suitable option in some local areas is landfill, if you have started with ‘reduction’ then at least you can ensure that there is less packaging to throw away.”
Renewable resources Carton manufacturers have long proclaimed the environmental benefits of their cartons, which already have a robust recycling system in place throughout most of Europe where an average of 61% of all cartons are recycled, according to Elopak. Moreover, the sourcing of the carton boards from natural wood fibre is a significant advantage in today’s environmental climate.
Earlier this year, the Alliance for Beverage Cartons & the Environment pledged its commitment to ensuring that all wood fibres used in beverage cartons would be traced back to legal and acceptable forests within 10 years. The companies taking the initiative include Tetra Pak, SIG Combibloc and Elopak who together represent 80% of the
sector’s worldwide turnover.
“In future, we will be able to trace back from the carton to the tree,” said Erika Mink, environmental director, Tetra Pak, who pointed out that currently 76% of the company’s global supply of paper board is produced in line with the Forest Stewardship Council standards and is certified by a third party. “As a company, we are also committed to reducing our own carbon emissions by 10% by 2010 through the reduction of energy use as well as by using renewable energy.”
Tetra Pak has embarked on an ambitious project to evaluate the CO2 emissions represented by every pack, taking into account its total life cycle. Every new product development initiative within the company, whether for a new pack or process, will be evaluated on the basis of its environmental impact.
“The business case will come as retailers and customers increasingly demand this information. Labelling and how to communicate to consumers is something that is now being addressed within the European Commission, and is becoming increasingly coordinated,” said Ms Mink, whose colleague, Jörgen Haglind, senior vice president of communications, Tetra Pak, emphasised that: “it is critical going forward to look at how to communicate to consumers about what is a good carbon footprint and this requires definition and clarification.”

Renewable and compostable
With consumer perception a major driver in the environmental debate, massive resource is being spent on plastic packaging from renewable sources, which has the added benefit of being compostable (Bioplastics FBI. September 06). Although from a small beginning, the global market for drinks alone packaged in compostable bottles jumped by 150% to reach 10 million litres of volume sold in 2006, according to the 2007 Drinks Biopackaging Report from the food & drink industry consultant Zenith International, and innovations are appearing for an ever wider field of applications.
Polylactic acid (PLA), a biodegradable polymer derived from corn, which provides a renewable and 100% compostable alternative to petroleum-based products, has been enjoying rapid uptake. Decorative Sleeves now offers shrink sleeving from film made from renewable resources; while Anson has added a new range of three salad bowls with lids, Single and Twin Tortilla packs and sandwich packs to its PLA based range, following extensive trials into different petroleum alternative polymers; and FFP Packaging Solutions picked up three Silver awards in the 2007 Starpack Awards for its Estergreen LD1AF sustainable lidding film made from PLA.
In Switzerland, the organic cheese producer Molkerei Gstaad, has swapped its APET trays for identical trays made from PLA from Faerch Plast for its slices of Original Berner Oberländer Hobelkäse brand cheese range.
Yet according to the Rohm & Haas Company in the USA, the packaging industry’s move toward PLA resin has been hampered by unmodified PLA being somewhat weaker and more brittle than traditional materials.
Although previous additives have negatively impacted the bioplastic’s clarity, Rohm & Haas claims to have developed a new additive, Paraloid BPM- 500, which makes the bioplastic stronger without sacrificing its clarity. Through the use of dispersible nanoparticles that do not scatter light, Paraloid BPM-500 allows PLA to be produced with less than 10% haze at a 5% loading. It complies fully with food contact requirements in Europe, and with room temperature food contact requirements in the USA.
“It is important for additive technology to be in step with bioplastic material development so that the necessary performance criteria can be maintained,” said Suzanne Carroll, Rohm & Haas packaging marketing manager. Bioplastic specialist Plantic has worked with the Cooperative Research Centre for Polymers (CRC-P) to incorporate substantially exfoliated hydrophobic clays into its Plantic R1, starch-based polymer to provide both clarity and tensile
strength. The patent-pending development also draws on nanocomposite technology and provides enhanced gas barrier properties. It can be used for both rigid and flexible food packaging applications, and for co-extrusion processes. The company has also recently entered into a ‘starch-based biomaterials alliance’ with DuPont to collaborate in the development and sale of renewably sourced polymers made using Plantic technology, which will help extend the commercial availability of these bioplastics.
“This agreement with DuPont will help Plantic expand the reach of its renewably sourced polymer technology around the world,” said Grant Dow, CEO. “And, it will enhance significantly the opportunities for product development for this technology by working with one of the world’s leading science companies.”
Scientific investment in the form of venture capital is behind the development of a new bio-based packaging film, created by Xylophane AB from agricultural and wood sources.
“We recently performed the first industrial trials together with a customer with very good results,” said Maria Gröndhal, one of the founders of the innovation company, Xylophane AB. “The material is going to be tested in food packaging and we are facing a period of industrial verification of the concept, from raw material to packaging
material.”
The new oxygen barrier material, which is also said to provide a barrier to grease and aroma, will be suitable for use with coffee, juice and crisps.

Traditional materials
With all this activity taking place in the arena of alternative polymers, traditional materials are fighting back with the greater development of recycled PET options and a breakthrough by Braskem in Brazil in the production of a ‘green’ polyethylene made from sugarcane ethanol. A high-density polyethylene, a resin widely used in flexible
packaging, is the result of a US$5 million investment and commercial production is scheduled for late 2009.
In the UK, the retailer Marks & Spencer and Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) have completed trials, funded by the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP), which explore the potential for recycled PET (rPET). The project included a range of different packaging, which was tested for performance and consumer acceptability.
CCE trialled 25% rPET in a range of 500ml bottles, including Diet Coke; and Marks & Spencer incorporated 30 and 50% rPET in the packaging for its salad and ‘Food to Go’ range. In each trial the recycled content packaging was successfully produced and available on shelf for over six months.
According to Marks & Spencer, which declared the recycled content on pack, 85% of consumers questioned said it made them feel better about shopping there.
“CCE is delighted with the excellent results we have seen throughout this trial and we believe it is a viable option both in terms of quality and energy consumption,” said Martin Rodgers, rPET project manager, CCE. “We would like to continue to use rPET and are currently working with our supply partners to assess if there is sufficient material available to make this feasible.” Marks & Spencer has also worked with RPC Llantrisant to perfect its standard PET juice bottles containing 30% post consumer recycled PET content.
“We have been working hard for many years on developing the percentage of rPET in our bottles,” said Dean Williams, designer at RPC Llantrisant. “Having consistently achieved a quality of bottle with 30% rPET that is equivalent to 100% virgin PET, we feel the time is right to offer this product as a standard to reflect the growing demand for recycled content in plastics packaging.” The company is now working towards incorporating 50% rPET. Plastic specialist Huhtamaki has also just launched a new range of thermoformed food packaging for salad in an oval shape, which contains 40 to 70% rPET derived from recycled PET bottles. The 180g and 300g pots have been developed with a slim design to optimise their efficiency during transport and on shelf.
Developments are being made thick and fast, and there is not enough space within this article to cover other initiatives in lightweighting, glass, metal, corrugated board and plastics, so further news will be covered regularly in the Packaging Update section in future.
More product launches, developments, innovations and crucial industry information will also be published in Food & Beverage International’s Environment & Energy Supplement in the December issue. Don’t miss out – fill in the subscription form at the back of the magazine to guarantee you receive your copy.