Day: July 2, 2024

Aldi is trialling a paper band for its bananas in a move estimated to remove 234 tonnes of plastic packaging from its operations every year.

The company’s midi bananas, Nature’s Pick five-pack, Organic six-pack, and other selected banana lines will replace their conventional plastic bags with a paper band.

If the trial is successful, it is anticipated to cut around 234 tonnes of plastic packaging every year.

“At Aldi, we know how important reducing plastic is to our customers, colleagues and the future of the planet,” said Luke Emery, Plastics and Packaging director at Aldi. “We are constantly reviewing ways we can do this, and our latest trial on bananas is another great step on that journey.”

Other plastic reduction efforts from Aldi include a transition into 100% rPET for all its own-brand soft drink and water bottles – expected to save 10,000 tonnes of virgin plastic yearly – and home-recyclable, paper-based wrap packaging for its own-brand butter lines, which is expected to remove over 10 tonnes of non-recyclable paper packaging every year.

Meanwhile, Tesco is trialling a recyclable cardboard container and etching product information directly onto its avocado products in an effort to save up to 25 million plastic trays and almost a million stickers.

Sainsbury’s is also implementing kerbside recyclable cardboard trays for its own-brand chicken and fish lines. Aiming to save 694 tonnes of plastic annually, the new packaging features an on-pack logo designed to help consumers identify products sold in reduced plastic packaging.

Source:

https://packagingeurope.com/news/plastic-banana-packaging-switched-out-in-favour-of-paper-bands-at-aldi

With help from DS Smith, Pladis claims to have reduced 78% of plastic – and, with it, over 373,248kg of CO2 so far – from its Jacob’s Cream Crackers box while retaining its tamperproof seal.

Motivated by increasing retailer and consumer demand for sustainability-minded solutions, Pladis reached out to DS Smith in hopes of developing new packaging for its Jacob’s Crackers Selection pack that would minimize the amount of plastic in the shell of the packaging without sacrificing its tamperproof elements.

Designers at DS Smith have reportedly tested the resultant pack. It is now said to contain 78% less plastic and saved over 373,248kg of CO2 to date, while simultaneously achieving recyclability and meeting the same standards of print quality as the previous box.

To redesign the pack, DS Smith utilized its Circular Design Metrics, which rate and compare a packaging design’s circularity across eight different indicators. Apparently, they have enabled the company to present around 3,000 ‘circular-ready’ projects to its customers every month.

“The challenge with attempting to cut plastic out of packaging often means it can compromise the design,” said Paul Bridge, Cluster D&I manager at DS Smith. “By applying our unique Circular Design Metrics, we came up with a solution that ensured that we ended up with a finished product that had 78% less plastic.”

David Guy, packaging director at Pladis UK&I, added: “We were delighted to work with DS Smith, and they really hit our brief, finding a solution which worked with our current manufacturing set-up without compromising on branding.”

The new Jacob’s Cream Crackers box is now available on-shelf.

It is expected to feed into DS Smith’s Now and Next strategy, which includes designing waste and pollution out of packaging, keeping materials in use, and decarbonizing its operations and value chain.

In a specific example, it intended to reduce or remove one billion pieces of primary or secondary plastic packaging from its consumer goods by 2025 – a target that the company has just surpassed across its European and North American markets, replacing a reported 1.2 billion pieces of plastic sixteen months in advance.

Sainsbury’s has made a similar development by selling its own-brand chicken and fish line in kerbside recyclable cardboard trays. In total, the trays are expected to save 694 tonnes of plastic annually, with the new own-brand salmon fillet trays specifically set to cut plastic by 70%.

WestRock and Liberty Coca-Cola Beverages also plan to replace around 200,000 pounds of plastic rings used in multipack bottled drinks with recyclable paperboard carriers, having successfully installed new equipment at the bottler’s production facility in Philadelphia.

Source:

https://packagingeurope.com/news/78-of-plastic-cut-from-cream-cracker-box-in-ds-smith-and-pladis-partnership

Aiming to remove 78 tonnes of virgin plastic annually, Aldi is incorporating a minimum of 35% recycled content into its Specially Selected Hand Cooked crisp range, with its own-label popcorn and lentil chip ranges set to follow later this year.

The new crisp packets have already rolled out across the UK. They are expected to help the retailer implement 50% recycled content into its plastic packaging by 2025.

Luke Emery, Plastics and Packaging director at Aldi, commented:“At Aldi, we are continuously making changes when it comes to reducing plastic waste, and we know how important this is to our customers too.

“Increasing the recycled content in our crisp packaging is just one way we are helping our customers to reduce their environmental impact, with all these little changes adding up to make an even bigger difference.”

The move is another step in Aldi’s efforts to cut down on plastic packaging in its operations. A recent development comes in the form of a trial, in which Aldi is replacing plastic bags with paper bands to package its banana products – a transition expected to remove 234 tonnes of plastic packaging every year, if successful.

Its own-brand soft drinks and bottled water ranges were also said to be the first in England and Wales to transition into 100% recycled PET (excluding caps and labels) last month.

In other crisp-related news, PepsiCo Europe is supporting investment to scale GreenDot’s recycling solutions and incorporate the resultant plastic recyclate into its snacks packaging – aligining with its plans to remove all virgin fossil-based plastic in all its crisp and chip bags by 2030.

Also, KP Snacks’ Tyrrells crisp range – specifically 150g bags of its Lightly Sea Salted, Sea Salt & Cider Vinegar, Sweet Chilli & Red Pepper, and Mature Cheddar & Chive flavours – will now contain 25% recycled soft plastics in hopes of lowering the brand’s reliance on virgin plastics.

Source:

https://packagingeurope.com/news/at-least-35-recyclate-to-enter-aldis-crisp-popcorn-and-lentil-chip-bags

John West has worked with Schubert Packaging Systems, CCL Label, and Touch Design to implement an aluminium strip into its ambient tuna packaging – designed to be recycled with the can and avoid 65 tons of plastic shrink wrap every year.

The new Ecotwist solution replaces conventional shrink wrap with an aluminium strip, or Smartstrip, which consumers can twist and pull to open the pack. Apparently, it has been independently verified as fully recyclable – meaning consumers can recycle their tuna cans, with the strip still attached, via kerbside recycling in the UK.

As well as removing 65 tons of plastic shrink wrap from John West’s supply chain, it is said to avoid the approximate equivalent of 300 tons of cardboard annually.

The solution falls in line with John West’s target to apply sustainable packaging to 100% of its products by 2025.

“We tested around 20 sustainable packaging concepts,” explained James Pryor, managing partner at Touch Design. “The John West brief was to create a ‘Multipack 2.0’ with minimal packaging to remove the plastic shrink and meet John West’s sustainable packaging targets whilst keeping the integrity of a multi-pack.

“Other packaging ideas would have required more material or added weight to each can, which John West wanted to avoid. We refined Ecotwist to be the simplest and most elegant solution.”

CCL Label’s role in the collaboration included striking a balance between ensuring that the aluminium Smartstrips were easy to open for consumers of all ages, yet maintaining their durability to survive stacking and transportation.

“Twisting and pulling a can off had to be a sensory experience,” said Wayne Firth, UK Sales and Marketing director at CCL Label. “The Smartstrip needed to feel right, sound right, and look right.

“The labels we developed had to incorporate a lot of characteristics and the right amount of adhesiveness, which we ensured by subjecting the can towers to rigorous tests to ensure durability and ease of use.”

Meanwhile, Schubert Packaging Systems sought to combine Touch Design’s concept, CCL Label’s aluminium strip, and John West’s requirements into a bespoke, industrial-scale packaging line.

Cyrille Zimmermann, project manager at Schubert, commented: “We designed, built and commissioned a groundbreaking new packaging technology that no one else has in this category anywhere in the world, giving John West a significant competitive edge to further differentiate itself in sustainable packaging.”

“We redesigned our cans to look more contemporary with added height, full lithography and an easy-open lid,” concluded Vikki Babb, international marketing director at John West. “We made the cans lighter and now pack the same amount of tuna into a lighter-weight can, saving over 400 tons of steel annually.

“We also reduced the other contents like sunflower oil, spring water, or brine that consumers typically discard, to save an additional 1,500 tonnes of waste a year. These changes lower our greenhouse gas emissions and move large volumes of our products into fully recyclable packaging to deliver against our sustainability commitments.”

Ecotwist is currently available in Asda stores, with other major retailers set to supply the packaging in future.

It has also been nominated as a finalist in the Pre-Commercialized Recyclable Packaging category at this year’s Sustainability Awards, with the awards ceremony taking place at the Sustainable Packaging Summit in Amsterdam this November.

Last year, Tata Steel and Grupo Calvo produced a canned tuna pack from Tata Steel’s Protact, a steel substrate with a three-layer polymer coating on each side. It sought to lightweight steel packaging, reduce food waste, and stand out on the shelf, with its reported organoleptic properties set to preserve the product’s taste.

In another approach, Sainsbury’s has transitioned its own-brand fish and chicken lines into kerbside recyclable cardboard trays. The move is expected to save a total of 649 tonnes of plastic every year and contribute to the retailer’s own plastic reduction targets.

Source:

https://packagingeurope.com/news/john-west-tuna-sealed-with-recyclable-aluminium-strip-in-industry-collaboration

In its 2023 ESG Summary Overview, PepsiCo estimates that it will fall 2% short of its target to design 100% of its packaging for recyclability, compostability, biodegradability, or reusability by 2025 – attributing its doubts to “a unique set of challenges”.

Compared to a 2020 baseline, PepsiCo claims to have cut virgin plastic from non-renewable sources by 1% per serving across its global beverages and convenient foods portfolio. Its absolute tonnage of virgin plastic derived from non-renewable resources was said to have increased from -11% in 2022 to -6% in 2023.

In line with its goal to implement 50% recycled content into its plastic packaging by 2030, the company is thought to have utilized 10% across its portfolio last year. More than 30 markets sold at least one PepsiCo product packaged in 100% rPET (excluding caps and labels), the report states.

PepsiCo claims to have sold 10% of its beverage servings in reusable models, including its SodaStream platform, fountain beverages delivered in reusable containers, returnable glass and plastic bottles, and concentrates and powders sold to consumers. This keeps the company on track to reach its 20% target for reuse servings by 2030.

It is also thought to have become the first beverage company to announce a North American roll-out of a paper-based replacement for plastic rings on all beverage multipacks in 2023.

In another sustainability target, PepsiCo aspires to design 100% of its packaging to be recyclable, compostable, biodegradable, or reusable (RCBR) by 2025. As of 2023, the percentage had reached 89% – and, at the current rate, PepsiCo believes that its target will not be reached in two years’ time.

“While achieving our packaging goals comes with a unique set of challenges to overcome, we continued to work toward our ambitions in 2023,” the report says. “Given those challenges, we currently project that, by 2025, we will have designed 98% of our packaging to be RCBR and that 92% of our packaging will be overall RCBR—that is, both designed to be RCBR and RCBR based on availability of end of life solutions.

“This current projection has us short of our 100% goal, but, we continue with our ambition to innovate, invest and partner to progress further.”

The news comes after Unilever scaled back its original target of halving virgin plastic consumption by 2025; instead, it now plans to reduce consumption by a third by 2026. Critics accused the corporation of prioritizing financial performance over sustainable progress, with fears arising that 100,000 tons of fresh plastic could now be produced annually. However, others felt that the decision was a realistic one.

In response, we caught up with Pablo Costa, Unilever’s Global head of Packaging. He told us that the company is “doubling down rather than watering down” its efforts to cut down on plastic pollution, and is “more determined than ever” to find alternative solutions.

Similarly, Colgate-Palmolive believes that “industry-wide challenges” regarding flexible packaging will mean it will miss its targets to achieve recyclability, reusability, and compostability across its packaging range by 2025. Chairman, president and CEO Noel Wallace stated that, “while we have set clear targets in areas such as using less plastic and more recycled plastic and making all of our packaging recyclable, reusable, or compostable, we also need to work with others towards systemic changes that no company can achieve alone.”

Source:

https://packagingeurope.com/news/pepsico-could-fail-to-meet-sustainability-goals-esg-report-reveals