Sustainability executive at Kraft Heinz shares project details about creating a paper bottle for the company’s iconic Heinz Tomato Ketchup.
Paper bottles have reached a new milepost on their journey to widespread acceptance. Kraft Heinz and Pulpex are collaborating on a recyclable, paper-based bottle for Heinz Tomato Ketchup — a first in the sauce category.
The companies are currently creating a prototype of the paper packaging, which will be made from 100% sustainably sourced wood pulp and recyclable in standard paper-waste streams. Before testing the package with consumers and ultimately commercializing it, the companies will conduct prototype testing to assess the performance of the packaging design.https://b04d78a1f202a08c5003ab6b46af138d.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html
Sustainability is driving Kraft Heinz’s interest in this recyclable package, which is made with natural materials from renewable sources and, if not properly recycled, degrades readily in the natural environment.
According to Pulpex’s data, the paper bottle’s carbon footprint is notably less than glass and plastic on a bottle-by-bottle basis — 90% less than glass and 30% less than polyethylene terephthalate (PET).
Patented technology from Pulpex, a collaboration between venture management company Pilot Lite Group and global beverage giant Diageo, enables production of customizable, single-mold paper bottles made from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified wood pulp.
The pulp is pressurized in molds to form containers. Then the containers are cured in microwave ovens and sprayed internally with a proprietary food-grade coating that does not affect recyclability.
In this exclusive interview, Jonah Smith, global head of environmental, social, and governance at Kraft Heinz, answers questions from Packaging Digest about the project.
When do you expect to have the paper-bottle prototype finished and ready for testing?
Smith: Since we are in the early stages of development, we cannot announce a launch date for the bottle quite yet. Developing a whole new packaging format is a long and complicated process; we need to ensure that the new product packaging is as safe and convenient as our other formats, and that the product retains its famous great taste, too.
Where and how will you test the prototype?
Smith: Tests are happening at various stages of development and deployment to validate the bottle’s performances and compatibility with the product and end of life.
Why explore paper packaging for condiments?
Smith: At Kraft Heinz, we aim to make 100% of our global packaging recyclable, reusable, or compostable by 2025, and to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Partners like Pulpex are critical to achieving these goals as we explore new forms of sustainable packaging across Kraft Heinz.
How will the paper package be made compatible with acidic tomato-based ketchup? What will the barrier product-contact layer be?
Smith: Pulpex uses proprietary, food-grade coatings that are compatible with the product inside the bottle. All coatings are [free of] PET, high-density PE [polyethylene], and bisphenol-A (BPA).
What is the anticipated shelf life for ketchup in the paper package? How does that compare with the other packages currently in use, such as glass and plastic bottles and foil pouches?
Smith: Since we are early in the development process, we still have rounds of testing to confirm the results.
If the paper package is added to Kraft Heinz’s product mix, what facilities would run it on their packaging lines? What machinery changes do you anticipate, to accommodate that?
Smith: Confirming the implications to the packaging lines is part of the testing process that we are incorporating along with the prototype.
Will the ketchup be hot filled into the Pulpex bottle?
Smith: The ketchup can be cold filled into the Pulpex bottle.
How will this paper-bottle innovation help Kraft Heinz achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050?
Smith: Limiting the carbon footprint of our packaging and exploring more sustainable packaging formats is a key component to how we will reach our goal of net zero by 2050 and halve our emissions by 2030.
Is this the first food application for the Pulpex bottle?
Smith: Heinz is the first sauce brand to explore the feasibility of the Pulpex bottle.
What other Kraft Heinz products are you considering for the Pulpex bottle, besides ketchup?
Smith: We’re constantly exploring new sustainable packaging formats and are hopeful that we can apply this technology to other products in the future.
Replacing the aluminum barrier layer in aseptic cartons with fiber or other materials is expected to generate environmental benefits while keeping food protected.
Tetra Pak, in an effort to develop and commercialize more sustainable food packaging, is replacing aluminum in its aseptic cartons with materials that reduce carbon footprint and improve recyclability — all without jeopardizing food safety.
The company currently is testing two alternatives as a replacement for aluminum: (1) a fiber-based barrier layer; and (2) a polymer-based barrier. Consumer testing of the fiber-based barrier follows Tetra Pak’s successful 15-month commercial technology validation of the polymer-based version.https://4eb0ac3b2337edd0d1adfae69abde6d0.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html
Tetra Pak reports that it is investing €100 million (or about $107 million USD, at the current currency exchange rate) per year for the next five to 10 years in improving food-carton sustainability. The investment will help fund development of packages made with a simplified material structure and increased renewable content.
The aluminum layer in conventional aseptic cartons plays an essential food-protection role but is an impediment to sustainability. A typical 1-liter Tetra Pak carton package is 70% paperboard, 25% polyethylene, and 5% aluminum.
Tetra Pak’s “aim is to develop the world’s most sustainable food package, one that is fully made of responsibly sourced renewable materials, is fully recyclable, and is carbon-neutral. Replacing the aluminum layer is a development priority to realize this goal,” says Gilles Tisserand, VP, climate and biodiversity, at Tetra Pak.
“Aluminum is a fossil-based, non-renewable material requiring complex and energy-demanding processes. Despite being thinner than a human hair, the aluminum layer currently used in food [cartons] contributes to a third of the greenhouse gas emissions linked to our base materials,” Tisserand adds.
Recycling issues are another sustainability thorn for aluminum. Tisserand explains that recycling for Tetra Pak aseptic cartons’ aluminum layer “is lacking on a large scale, so both upstream and downstream action is needed to accelerate a progressive change.
“Upstream, replacing the aluminum foil with more compatible materials can significantly help. Downstream, cross-border collaboration and co-investment with recyclers and industry players are key for expansion at scale.”
Starting in late 2020, Tetra Pak began a commercial technology validation in Japan for a polymer-based barrier.
The findings from this completed validation have influenced Tetra Pak’s fiber-based barrier testing, on which the company is working closely with customers. Single-serve packages incorporating the fiber-based material are now on-shelf for the consumer testing, and a technology validation is planned for later in 2022.
In this Packaging Digest exclusive Q&A, Tisserand answers more questions about Tetra Pak’s work on replacing aluminum in aseptic containers, particularly development and testing of the new fiber-based barrier.
Why wasn’t there a fiber-based barrier before? What changed to make this possible?
Tisserand: Transformational and collaborative innovation is critical to accelerate the pace in this domain, because shifting from an aluminum layer to an alternative barrier has implications that impact the full system.
They span the packaging-material composition perspective of increased renewable content — paper — while delivering food safety and quality performance comparable to traditional aseptic cartons; the opening/closure perspective; and the sealing technology perspective. [Note: Packs with the fiber-based barrier are compatible with the plastic straws Tetra Pak currently uses; the company is also developing a paper straw that’s suitable for these packages.]
The aluminum layer in aseptic cartons has both a functionality reason — as it’s protecting food from oxygen and light, acting as a barrier — and a technical reason, because it is responsible for the sealing of the cartons in the filling machine. Therefore, it is critical to use the full product life cycle as the compass guiding our development, including, for instance, supplier collaborations and recycling assessment.
The pilot batch of single-serve packs featuring the fiber-based barrier that are currently on test represents a key marker in this exciting journey.
What more can you tell us about the structure of the fiber-based barrier?
Tisserand: The fiber-based barrier is composed of paper and barriers. Engineered combinations of paper and barriers secure the necessary barrier to light and oxygen, protecting the contents inside the package. This is one of the key roles of the aluminum barrier in our current ambient portfolio.
What more can you tell us about the 15-month commercial technology validation in Japan?
Tisserand: The commercial technology validation in Japan, involving several million packages, helped us to understand the value chain implications created by replacing the thin aluminum layer, which helps keep perishable food safe within aseptic cartons, with a polymer-based barrier.
Like every new development and packaging solution, the pack with the polymer-based barrier went through our rigorous commercial testing protocols. These include looking at different testing attributes when it comes to food safety, from packaging performance to technical testing, as well as overall user experience and recyclability.
What were the learnings from that project, and how did they affect development of the fiber-based barrier?
Tisserand: Beyond analyzing the performance of the polymer-based alternative barrier across the value chain — starting from the way the package is formed/filled/sealed — and to ensure no impacts from a food-safety perspective, the commercial technology validation in Japan allowed us to quantify the impact this shift generates in terms of carbon footprint reduction, while confirming adequate oxygen protection for vegetable juice and enabling increased recycling rates in a country where recyclers favor aluminum-free cartons.
The current consumer test of packs featuring the fiber-based barrier underscores our approach to design for recycling, where increasing the paper content is critical and also supports end-user expectations. Based on recent global research, approximately 40% of consumers confirmed they would be more motivated to sort for recycling if packages were made entirely from paperboard and had no plastic or aluminum. [Note: Tetra Pak conducted this research, a survey of 12,000 consumers worldwide, in summer 2021.]
The two alternative barriers we are piloting are part of our stepwise, collaborative approach in the gradual development and validation of completely new solutions. Our innovation road map includes a suite of alternative barriers, as this is essential to meet ever evolving industry and consumer needs across the globe.
What more can you tell us about the current fiber-based barrier commercial test? Specifically, what’s the product? Where, geographically, is it sold? Who’s the customer?
Tisserand: Our first pilot batch of single-serve packs will contain dairy-based products. With regard to geographical location and customer, this is confidential information that we cannot disclose at this stage.
How successful do you think the fiber-based barrier commercial test will be and why?
Tisserand: Early results suggest that the package with a fiber-based barrier will offer substantial CO2 reduction when compared with traditional aseptic cartons, together with comparable shelf life and food-protection properties.
In addition, cartons with higher paper content are more attractive for paper mills; thus, we believe this concept presents clear potential for realizing a low-carbon, circular economy for packaging.
However, the fiber-barrier remains in its testing phase, with further technology validation scheduled later this year to assess its technical maturity, collect learnings, and improve moving forward. All in a controlled fashion.
Work will continue into 2023 and beyond, the goal being to bring future generations of alternative barriers in the coming years.
What will the fiber-based barrier’s technology validation entail?
Tisserand: The commercial technology validation differs from the consumer test in terms of loops of production — there are more — to test various aspects of the new technology.
Please quantify the fiber-based barrier pack’s shelf life and food-protection properties.
Tisserand: For certain product categories, such as dairy products, the shelf life and food-protection properties offered by the fiber-based barrier are comparable to aseptic carton packages that make use of aluminum. However, this needs to be assessed on a case-by-case basis, based on the product itself, the distribution conditions, and customer assessment rating. [Note: The customer assessment rating is a system to judge the product performance in a specific package.]
As part of our innovation road map, we plan to extend the product-categories coverage offered by our fiber-based barrier; however, this aspect will become clearer when collecting learnings from the technology validation of the first generation of this solution.
How will the fiber-based barrier concept enable a low-carbon circular economy for packaging?
Tisserand: While awareness of the importance of circularity has vastly increased in recent years, many still fail to grasp how this is closely intertwined with climate emergency. The simple fact is that we need to tackle them together, and only by seeing circular economy models through a climate lens will we decarbonize materials fast enough to protect our planet.
It’s clear that circularity — a model in which manufacturers design out waste, reuse and recycle materials, and regenerate natural systems to reduce impact on the environment — is essential and will be even more so in the future.
However, we think this approach needs to go further: It must also account for the carbon impact of manufacturing and, particularly, raw materials. When considering the carbon footprint of packaging materials, with global demand for raw materials expected to double by 2060, the sourcing and processing of these materials will account for nearly one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. [Note: According to the report, the raw materials expected to see huge demand spike include biomass, fossil fuels, metals, and non-metallic minerals (construction materials). Only some of these materials are used in packaging.]
Our goal is to use as much renewable and recycled material as possible in our packaging, as this is essential to our low-carbon, circular economy approach.
We believe future pack developments will be increasingly driven by renewability and recyclability, to ensure the decarbonization and circularity of materials and address the need for sustainable food packaging. At Tetra Pak, already today, we are accelerating the shift from high-carbon, fossil-based materials to low carbon, renewable ones.
We believe future pack developments will be increasingly driven by renewability and recyclability, to ensure the decarbonization and circularity of materials and address the need for sustainable food packaging.
We believe that future packs’ composition will favor higher recycling value, with less complexity, reduced plastic content, and increased paper share. Against this backdrop, we are accelerating action in two areas.
The first focuses on design for recycling, aiming for a simplified material structure and increased paper-based content. In short, a package that has circularity and recycling “built in” — along with anti-littering measures.
The second area focuses on the new life of materials used in our packages, after the content is consumed. Here, innovation is critical, especially to expand recycling capacity and value of the recovered polymer and aluminum mix, polyAI. We are working with a growing number of recyclers and other key actors to develop viable and sustainable business solutions.
When do you think Tetra Pak will be able to offer an aseptic package that is fully renewable, fully recyclable, and carbon-neutral?
Tisserand: We are making substantial headway in our development journey together with our partners, the goal being to launch a fully renewable aseptic package by 2023.
Tetra Pak has stated that it’s collaborating with customers, start-ups, universities, and tech companies. What more can you tell us about your partners on the fiber-based barrier project?
Tisserand: Further details cannot be shared for confidentiality reasons
With the goal of reducing the post-harvest cooling period and eliminating moisture and condensation that results in product spoilage, Mpact Versapak, a division of the Mpact Group, recently redesigned its 100% post-consumer rPET grape punnet to optimise the entire value chain.
The fruit industry is vitally important to South Africa as a foreign currency earner and a large provider of stable employment.
According to a report from the South African Journal of Plant and Soil, during the past 25 years there has been a tremendous amount of positive change in the post-harvest handling of fruits in the country. This is primarily due to the adoption of a number ofnew technologies developed in response to changes in the industry.
The grape industry uses rapid cooling and packaging to protect grapes from desiccation and decay. Numerous packaging methods and combinations are used in the industry with each having their own advantages and disadvantages.
“This innovation provides a solution to a number of value specific time and environmental challenges posed by value chain members, and highlights the importance of recycling,” says Wessel Oelofse, general manager of Versapak.
“Our in-house research, design and development team redesigned the heat seal grape punnet to include ten additional edge slots on the bottom rim and four base holes,” explains Oelofse. “This led to improved airflow and drainage of ‘free moisture’ that results in a shorter cooling time, and eliminates the risk of freezer damage, especially for punnets located furthest from the cooling fan.”
According to Oelofse the innovative solution resulted in a 43% reduction in cooling times when compared to the existing design, andby 49% when compared to the leading international punnet.
This means that the product offers substantial environmental benefits. These include lower product spoilage (that often has a higher carbon footprint compared to the packaging itself), time saving in the cooling process, energy and carbon footprint saving and a reduced need to increase future storage facilities for this rapidly growing market.
“Although the international market specifies a median product weight, our specialist team also managed to produce the punnet 7.5% lighter than the international specification,” explains Oelofse. “Its export rate means that not only is our post-consumer waste reduced, but that within international recycling streams, this light-weighted punnet can enjoy the full recycling status of being 100% recycled and recyclable.”
“We are pleased to report that 288,000 kilograms of PET has been removed from South African landfills between October 2021 to January 2022,” he continues. “Its predecessor, the conventional grape punnet, has contributed to removing 832,000 kilograms of PET from landfill during the period of January to December 2021.”
Organisations across the value chain benefitting from this innovation include farmers, cooling and storage facilities, transporting contractors, and ultimately, the consumer who receives good quality and fresher produce.
“Our redesigned grape punnet enjoyed a 100% export rate to Europe, United Kingdom, Middle East, Canada, South East Asia, Africa and Russia,” says Oelofse. “The grape harvesting season is in full swing between October 2021 to April 2022, so this newly launched product has not reached its full potential as yet.
“Expansion of this design into other fresh produce categories are underway, which will result in further environmental benefits,” concludes Oelofse.
About Mpact Versapak
Mpact Versapak is a division of the Mpact Group, the largest paper and plastics packaging manufacturer and recycling business in southern Africa. Mpact Versapak offers a wide range of branded packaging, including PET and polystyrene trays, expanded polystyrene packaging and cling film for both the local and international FMCG, fast food, fresh food, beverage and agricultural sectors.
It operates from the Western Cape and Gauteng and distributes its products through an extensive countrywide network. In-house design functions allows Versapak to rapidly respond to customer needs, market trends and new product developments, and the latest technology is used to improve the performance of its packaging.
All its packaging is manufactured to stringent health and safety standards. BRC accreditation ensures that Versapak is committed and regulated to only use accredited raw materials that are safe for direct food contact.
The circular economy
A circular economy is an industrial system that is restorative by intention and design. It is a model of production and consumption, which involves the sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling of existing materials and products as long as possible. In this way, the life cycle of products is extended.
This is a departure from the traditional, linear economic model, which is based on a take-make-consume-throw-away pattern and relies on large quantities of cheap, easily accessible materials and energy. There is overwhelming evidence that such a model is not sustainable.
Mpact is leading the way in developing a circular economy within the manufacturing industry in South Africa. For Mpact’s products and manufacturing processes, this means that what cannot be reused should be collected, recycled and made into new products. It is good business that benefits the environment, communities, the economy and the world.
Compostable packaging is popularly seen as an answer to plastic pollution, but while it has a role to play in a circular economy, it is not a silver bullet. Any time a piece of packaging is used once – no matter how it is disposed of – it is single-use. Preventing waste in the first place should be a top priority, says Laura Collacott, freelance editor at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
n 2018, Collins Dictionary named ‘single-use’ as its word of the year as the world woke up to the plastic pollution crisis. Single-use plastics have come to epitomise our take-make-waste linear economy, and as global awareness has grown, ‘no excuse for single-use’ has become a common refrain.
From straws and plastic bags to disposable coffee cups and takeaway cartons, retailers and their customers have been looking for ways to reduce consumption of disposable plastics.
A shift to compostable packaging – products made from biodegradable materials that can, if handled properly, be returned to the earth after use – appears to be an intuitive solution, particularly for the food industry.
The term compostable is often confused with the terms biodegradable and bio-based. This can lead to some solutions being mishandled and their environmental impacts miscommunicated. These terms can be distinguished as follows:
Biodegradable materials can be broken down into carbon dioxide, water, and biomass by the natural action of microorganisms over an unspecified length of time and in undefined conditions.
Compostable materials are able to be broken down into carbon dioxide, water, and biomass within a specific time frame under specific conditions. This can mean either home-compostable (at ambient temperatures and with a natural microbial community) or industrially compostable (under increased temperatures, humidity, and specifically formulated microbial conditions).
Compostable materials can be made from either bio-based or petrochemical inputs. Compostable packaging is subject to certification standards in North America, Japan, and Europe.
Bio-based plastics refer to where the material comes from rather than what happens to it after use. Conventional plastics are largely oil-based. Bio-based plastics are made – either wholly or partly – from polymers drawn from organic sources such as plants, microorganisms, and greenhouse gases (examples include corn, algae, yeast and CO2).
Poor waste sorting systems mean that compostables often well-meaningly find their way into the wrong streams, contaminating full batches of recycling and condemning them to landfill. That’s if products are effectively collected and sorted in the first place.
The vast majority are not. In the UK, only 1 in 400 takeaway coffee cups, compostable or otherwise, currently make it an appropriate processing facility. The rest are binned or leaked into the environment. Once in landfill, compostable packaging can take years to biodegrade, and can release the same harmful methane emissions as food waste in the process, while products that end up in the natural environment may not biodegrade at all.
Prevention is better than cure
In a circular economy, the more intact a material can stay while being circulated the better, as it preserves not only the material, but also the embedded labour and energy. As a rule of thumb, retaining the shape of the packaging (e.g. through reuse) is more desirable than grinding up the packaging (e.g. through mechanical recycling) which, in turn, is more desirable than breaking the packaging down into basic chemical components.
Greenpeace USA cautioned against solutions that simply substitute single-use items for other disposables in a report published in 2019: “There is no way the planet can sustain additional demand from companies attempting to substitute their single-use plastic packaging; companies must commit to overall reduction of packaging and shift to alternative delivery systems like reuse and refill.”
Exceptions, however, prove the rule. There are instances where well thought through, compostable solutions are the best fit for a circular economy – particularly where they return nutrients to the soil and contribute to regenerating soils and building a healthy food system. Switching to compostable fruit stickers or using seaweed sachets for sauce servings, for example, can prevent contamination of organic materials and ensure more of them can be safely returned to the soil.
Closed-loop systems are ideal applications. Take a festival or sports event: using compostable packaging means uneaten food and scraps can be thrown in a single bin for processing, preserving food nutrients without contaminating the waste stream. Similarly, collection services where companies both supply and collect compostable packaging reduces contamination and leakage, and ensures that materials are circulated at their highest value.
For example, Biopak’s Compost Club supplies and later collects used packaging from businesses for its own compost service, and has diverted more than 1,500 tonnes of compostable packaging and food scraps from landfill in Australia and New Zealand since launching in 2017. In Milan, municipal authorities have tripled the collection of separated food waste by providing vented bins and compostable bags to residents, enabling the production of good quality compost for farmers.
Building compostable packaging into the circular economy
Compostable packaging is one of multiple solutions needed to prevent waste, circulate materials, and regenerate nature. It is best suited to certain scenarios, notably food and drink applications where it can help increase the proportion of organic waste collected, treated and recycled, which at the moment stands at only 13%. To increase this rate, industrial facilities need to be scaled globally over the coming years to capture and circulate organic materials, some of which will be collected alongside compostable food packaging.
For this to be effective, we need global investment in collection and processing infrastructure to ensure both the logistics and economics work. Italy’s compostable packaging EPR scheme is an example of a mechanism for raising funds.
But before turning to compostable solutions, even if the right treatment facilities are available, businesses should ask themselves first and foremost if elimination or reuse would be better solutions. After all, what we really need to tackle is our throw-away economy.
Sreeparna Das spoke to Bob Powell, CEO of Brightmark, to understand the role advanced recycling – also known as chemical recycling – can play in supporting the demands of the flexible packaging sector, the key growth areas, and the existing challenges to scaling up advanced recycling.
As demand for more recycled content, commitment to meet environmental objectives and consumer expectations converge, significant increases in recycling capacities are needed. Advanced recycling is a pathway receiving significant capital investment and seeing numerous high-profile partnerships emerge.
Brightmark has signed a memorandum of understanding with bp to jointly evaluate opportunities to develop next generation plastics renewal plants in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands; and recently become ISCC+ certified and active in CEFLEX to work more closely across the whole flexible packaging value chain.
SD:Can you shed some light on recycling choices and the possible pathways to a circular economy?
BP: There are a number of steps on a mission to reimagine waste and hopefully, in the end, create a world without waste. Thinking of this as ‘it takes a village’ is really important here. Reduction in use is one of the important solutions and we advocate the reduction of plastic waste by lowering consumption. And before post-consumer plastic products get to us, there need to be the right incentives and the ecosystem in place to avoid plastics entering the environment.
Specific to mechanical or advanced recycling pathways, an important aspect is to determine how much of the post-use waste stream can each technology process in the most efficient way. There is a high value in mechanical recycling of plastic waste streams like water bottles – and in reference to the one to seven plastic categories – the ones, some of the twos, and some of the fours.
Over time, the products that mechanical recycling produces, however, will break down and it won’t be possible to continuously recycle plastics via mechanical recycling, at least as well as we’re aware now. That’s where a technology like advanced recycling comes in. At Brightmark, our patented plastics renewal technology can recycle every single one of the plastics, one through seven. We don’t target the waste streams where mechanical recycling produces a higher value but we can definitely take the rest. And so I think the complementary nature of mechanical and advanced recycling of plastics is very powerful.
SD: What according to you are the main barriers to scaling up advanced recycling?
BP: With 385 million tonnes of plastics used a year and only 9% of those plastics recycled today, I believe that advanced recycling has the power to change the equation globally. But there are a couple of barriers. The first thing is to understand where we are in the lifecycle of this solution.
Right now, we’re in the early days and it is necessary to find a way to scale the technologies that work as quickly as possible. We need both community and governmental involvement. And we also need involvement from the waste management communities and the producers of plastics. Those of us like Brightmark that are in the advanced recycling area need to show the world that it’s working. Our first facility, which is located in northeast Indiana, United States, is nearing completion and thus can demonstrate the ability to sell our liquids to remake plastics and other products.
It is also really important to engage with a lot of NGOs and different groups that are very concerned about plastic waste but are sceptical about what we’re doing. You may notice that I didn’t use the word ‘chemical’ when I say advanced recycling because people grab onto certain words without deeply understanding and listening, which makes them say ‘I don’t want anything to do with chemicals’. I think it’s really important to listen to their concerns, be thoughtful about them, and not dismiss the potential problems.
One of the concerns that the groups have, and that we at Brightmark are attuned to, is about environmental justice. So when creating solutions, we must ensure that we are not disadvantaging some communities that have historically been disadvantaged. Similarly, regarding the environmental impacts of advanced recycling technologies, it is important that we draw in independent parties to ensure clear and credible communication. In that vein, we commissioned a lifecycle analysis at our first facility in Ashley, Indiana from an independent university and consulting firm.
SD: Based on the current dynamics and future needs, how do you think the flexible packaging recycling trends will evolve in the next five to ten years? What will be the impact on chemical recycling?
BP: There is a clear trend requiring an increased percentage of recycled content in flexible packaging. A lot of it has to do with consumer trends as there’s greater awareness of the post-use plastics issue amongst consumers, who are demanding that the products they buy have higher recycled content. So there’s that whole downstream pull, starting from the actual users of the products. And what I anticipate is until we are up at scale, there will be a lot of stress involved in that process because we will not be scaling as fast as the flexible packaging community wants. What we need is tremendous amounts of capital to be invested in order to move faster and scale quicker.
This supply-demand mismatch is quite interesting because when we designed our first facility in Ashley, Indiana, the demand that we see today wasn’t there. The world has changed really quickly as producers commit to environmental goals and respond to regulatory pressures. So it requires us that are upstream to scale quicker and create an ecosystem to get to the required volume of supply. We’ll need a lot of partnerships evolving within the ecosystem, i.e. waste management companies, advanced and mechanical recyclers, and the flexible packaging community.
Also, plastics generally have not been treated as a waste stream that needed to be preserved and reused. So we’ve got the mixing in of organic material and many other things with plastics. And even though our technology is very flexible and can process plastic types one through seven, we need to create the capability of separating mixed waste so we don’t get a lot of organic material. We’ve seen that with the right economic incentives, it is possible to do so because instead of a cost, there is now an income stream associated with it. To create sustainable solutions that really drive change, the projects must also be economically sustainable as well.
SD: Can you help us identify the future growth areas?
BP: I’m a big believer that one needs to go and tackle the biggest problems first – the Pareto principle. Making sure we tackle it in areas where we have the waste problem is definitely one of the key trends. And in terms of where the waste is produced, certainly, the industrialized world is a big area. I would also include parts of the world that may not be as industrialized but are facing different sets of issues with regard to waste management. Eight of the top ten rivers in the world that bring plastics to the ocean are located in the Asia Pacific region. So if, at Brightmark, we have a mission to reimagine waste, then doing it just in the States or just in some particular areas is probably not going to drive the greatest impact. I think what you would see is us at Brightmark and probably others being very geographically focused. Last year we announced plans to build one of our facilities in South Korea, and earlier this year, we announced a project in Australia to do the same. Also on our radar are Mumbai and other places throughout the world.
Another important trend to note here is the ESG investing area, which can drive growth. The financial community is increasing its focus on social causes and environmental issues. Much more capital is now being directed towards economic solutions that drive environmental solutions and have a positive social impact.
SD:Concerning value chain collaborations, how can converters, brands, and recyclers work together to achieve the best impact?
BP: In order for us to solve the problem, we have to start with the dream and then get very specific about reality. The first step is to look at the participants along the entire value chain and break down each one of their specific areas. These include advanced recyclers, waste management companies, picking communities, producers, financial institutions, and governments, and then talk very specifically about the economics and the support systems.
Getting the required regulatory support will aid this process and governments can play an important role with initiatives such as tax credit assistance, which have shown good results, for example, with renewable energy across the world. I think it’s also important that legislation supporting our industry also ensures that we’re very transparent about the environmental impacts. I fully endorse the need for advanced recyclers to also be held to a standard and we’re open to feedback and criticism because, at the end of the day, we’re all trying to resolve the environmental issues.
Scientists at Rutgers University, New Jersey, have developed a starch-based, degradable biopolymer coating with naturally occurring antimicrobial ingredients, which can reportedly be sprayed onto food to protect against contamination, spoilage, and transportation damage.
Conducted in collaboration with scientists at Harvard University and funded by the Harvard-Nanyang Technological University/Singapore Sustainable Nanotechnology Initiative, the Rutgers research on the bio-based, antimicrobial packaging technology was published in Nature Food this month.
The researchers explain that the starch-based biopolymer forms a stringy material that can be spun from a heating device that resembles a hairdryer and shrink-wrapped over foods of various shapes and sizes, ranging from avocados to a sirloin steak. The biopolymer is produced by a process called focus rotary jet spinning, as described by the research paper.
According to the researchers, the bio-based coating can be laced with naturally occurring antimicrobial ingredients such as thyme oil, citric acid, and nisin. The coating is reportedly strong enough to protect against bruising while also inhibiting pathogenic microorganisms such as E. coli and listeria.
The researchers add that they can programme these ‘smart materials’ to act as sensors, activating and destroying bacterial strains on food, which can potentially reduce the transmission of food-borne illnesses and lower the risk of spoilage. For example, the research cites a quantitative assessment apparently showing that the coating extended the shelf life of avocados by 50%.
In addition, the coating can be rinsed off with water and degrades in soil within three days, according to the study. The researchers consider the biopolymer coating to be a scalable, cost-effective solution for both protecting human health and reducing the use of fossil-based plastic food packaging.
Philip Demokritou, director of the Nanoscience and Advanced Materials Research Center, and the Henry Rutgers Chair in Nanoscience and Environmental Bioengineering at the Rutgers School of Public Health and Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, comments: “We knew we needed to get rid of the petroleum-based food packaging that is out there and replace it with something more sustainable, biodegradable and nontoxic.
“And we asked ourselves at the same time, ‘Can we design food packaging with a functionality to extend shelf life and reduce food waste while enhancing food safety?’
“What we have come up with is a scalable technology, which enables us to turn biopolymers, which can be derived as part of a circular economy from food waste, into smart fibres that can wrap food directly. This is part of new generation, ‘smart’ and ‘green’ food packaging.”
Research on antimicrobial food packaging films appears to be expanding globally. Earlier this year, a team of scientists fromNanyang Technological University, Singapore and Harvard University developed waterproof packaging made from a type of corn protein, zein, along with starch, other naturally derived biopolymers, and antimicrobial compounds. The packaging reportedly kills harmful microorganisms, including bacteria and fungi, while extending the shelf life of fresh fruit by two to three days.
UPM Speciality Papers has unveiled UPM Solide Lucent, a recyclable speciality kraft paper that the company says can be used as a coating base or for single-packs, bags, and wraps, with higher basis weights offered for a range of properties and applications.
According to UPM, UPM Solide Lucent is a kraft paper that is repulpable and designed to be recycled in existing fibre recycling streams. The company claims that the kraft paper is made from virgin cellulose fibres from responsibly grown forests, with FSC and PEFC certification available, and has a fibre content of over 95%.
This apparently leaves room for additional coatings while allowing the final packaging product to be recyclable in current fibre recycling streams. The company notes that UPM Solide Lucent is also compostable in accordance with the EN13432 standard.
UPM adds that Solide Lucent offers high strength, density, and folding properties that help to ensure the mechanical integrity and barrier performance of the packaging during converting and throughout the value chain. The company says the kraft paper also offers “excellent” print results with both flexo and rotogravure printing.
In addition to UPM Solide Lucent’s existing basis weights (45 g/m² and 62 g/m²), UPM says that it has added three new, higher basis weights: 72, 78, and 90 g/m². Lower basis weights have the flexibility for smaller pack sizes and higher basis weights offer rigidity and sturdiness where needed, according to the company.
Tommi Heinonen, head of sales at UPM Specialty Papers, explains: “We are always listening to our customers’ wishes, and there has been a strong demand for higher basis weights of UPM Solide Lucent.
“Brand owners choose materials with the functional properties, economics and consumer behaviour in mind. Basis weight requirements depend on end uses, functional needs, and market messages.
“Thanks to its outstanding sustainability credentials, this paper is a safe and smart choice for converters and brand owners looking to co-create new products with us.
“The target is also to reduce value chain recycling fees in the long run.”
Mika Uusikartano, senior manager of product portfolio management at UPM Specialty Papers, concludes: “Together with customers and partners, we can develop truly sustainable medium and high barrier packaging solutions, matching customer needs in a wide range of food and non-food applications.”
Last year, UPM Speciality Papers expanded its selection of recyclable packaging papers with the launch of a new two-sided coated barrier paper, UPM Asendo Pro, which apparently offers advanced grease resistance, moisture resistance, and a mineral oil barrier to help protect dry, greasy, or frozen food products.
Glen Scotia has revamped its full packaging range, introducing a new bottle design for its standard and premium ranges.
The new look incorporates bolder shades of gold, deep aqua and emerald green on the primary and secondary packaging, depicting the colours of Campbeltown’s seafaring roots and leafy coastlines.
Colin Matthews, chief executive of The Loch Lomond Group, Glen Scotia’s parent company, said: “Glen Scotia has forever held a special place in Scotland’s west coast, but in recent years, thanks to the commitment of our team and significant investment in our distillery, the brand has grown exponentially.
“The Glen Scotia distillery is at the forefront of Campbeltown’s renaissance – showcasing the town’s rich whisky heritage, guiding the way for others to follow, and now putting the town and Glen Scotia back to the very centre of attention on the world’s whisky map. It has been made possible by our team’s knowledge, dedication, craftsmanship and determination, and we are very excited to take this stunning new packaging to the world.
“We are the only distillery in the world to have achieved both the highest accolade at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition and be crowned Scottish Distillery of the Year, an incredibly proud achievement for us all and even more special that it was all accomplished within the same 12 months. It is a feat only possible for the very best, but we continue to show our enthusiasm and ambition for Glen Scotia and Campbeltown to grow further with the release of this beautiful new packaging.
“We continue to be determined to share Glen Scotia’s thought-provoking heritage and mark its place as one of Scotland’s most impressive and creative whisky distilleries. The whisky industry can be a crowded place, but we are confident this latest move to further enhance the brand will positively spotlight Glen Scotia Whisky for years to come.”
The Label Makers have collaborated with cocktail mixologists White Label Cocktails to produce labels for the Marksologist range by M&S.
The process of creating the labels, from concept to final print, took several months. The Label Makers were involved at the very beginning of the artwork concept stage, liaising very closely with brand identity and packaging design specialists Sand Creative to agree print methods, embellishments and materials that would work well with the designs.
The Label Makers worked in tandem with SGK and M&S. The labels were flexo printed, to include hot foil, emboss, deboss and tactile inline-embellishments. The end result saw each label having its own distinguished look and feel through a use of different uncoated and textured materials.
“We were delighted to be asked to work with M&S and partners on the new Marksologist range of products. Each design really utilises the extensive inline-embellishments that our MPS flexo presses have to offer. It was a joy to be involved in the whole process from artwork concept stage through to label application,” said The Label Makers’ Ben Robinson.
Founder and owner of White Label Cocktails, James Trevillion, added: “We initially connected with The Label Makers at Packaging Innovations at the NEC in 2020 – they really stood head and shoulders above the competition at that show. For this job, Ben and the team oozed professionalism and knowledge, and that filled me with confidence that the product would not only be first rate, they would be delivered on time and well supported.
“The labels look outstanding. With a premium liquid, it is imperative that the quality is communicated to the customer clearly, and the Marksologist labels do that with ease.”
Evian is celebrating Wimbledon’s ‘100-years of Centre Court’ with the launch of a limited-edition heritage label exclusively at this year’s event, inspired by a 1922 Evian packaging design.
The mineral water giant will commemorate its own heritage (first discovered in 1789) as well as Centre Court’s centenary through the launch of a limited-edition heritage label at this year’s event.
The reimaged label was inspired by a 1922 bottle design from the iconic brand and will be available to players at The Championships and in evian’s VIP Suite, featuring on evian’s popular 75cl bottles which are made from 100% recycled plastic*.
As part of Evian’s ongoing sustainability commitments and ambition to become a circular brand by 2025, Evian’s VIP guests will be encouraged to dress in a more eco-conscious way at The Championships, by honouring the brand’s ‘Summer Smart and Eco-Conscious’ dress code.
Following on from Evian’s partnership with environmental charity HUBBUB at last year’s event that saw recycling rates increase by 53% in Wimbledon Town Centre and Village, The water giant will launch a recycling reward scheme with Reward4Waste within the Grounds and in the Wimbledon Town Centre for the first time.
The scheme will incentivise attendees to recycle their water bottles through a QR code that will be found on recycling bins across the Grounds. By scanning the QR code and then the barcode on their Evian drink, attendees will enter for a chance to win Finals tickets to The Championships 2023. With deposit return schemes for drinks containers on the horizon for the UK & Ireland, Evian’s reward scheme will provide insight into the impact return schemes can have, and the role digital technology can play in making a scheme as convenient and engaging for consumers as possible.
Evian and Wimbledon are also launching their first-ever podcast series, ‘Wimbledon: Between the Lines’, celebrating 100 Years of Centre Court, featuring BBC Radio 1 presenters and tennis enthusiasts Matt Edmondson and Mollie King co-host the podcast, where they’ll explore not only tennis but a range of lifestyle topics including the quirks and traditions that make Wimbledon so iconic and special.
Dillon McEvoy, head of marketing at Evian, said: “As a longstanding partner of The Championships, we’re excited to be celebrating 100 years of Centre Court with the launch of our exclusive heritage label bottle for players.”
“Marking the centenary, we take the opportunity to recognise the progress Evian have made and the need to continue to innovate for a more sustainable future. We’ve continued to make strides with our sustainability commitments. We’ve launched ‘Bottles made from bottles’, will be trialling a digital recycling reward scheme at the tournament, and have reached carbon neutrality as a global brand and in our VIP Suite at Wimbledon. We’re proud of these steps and will challenge ourselves to do continue to do more on our sustainability journey.”
Gus Henderson, commercial director at the All England Club, said: “This is a special year for Wimbledon and we’re delighted that Evian is joining with us to celebrate the centenary of Centre Court in its current home. This milestone gives us the opportunity to remember some of the event’s most iconic moments and unique traditions, but also look forward to what the next 100 years might bring. With this in mind, one of our key commitments is to become Environment Positive by 2030 and we look forward to working alongside partners like Evian who are equally committed to a more sustainable future.”
