Innovative Packaging Improves Environmental Impact
Flexible packaging suppliers launch innovative products to improve pouches’ environmental impact
August 5, 2019
John Kalkowski
Source from: https://www.flexpackmag.com/articles/90033-innovative-packaging-improves-environmental-impact
Improving the sustainability of flexible packaging was a recurring theme at this year’s Global Pouch Forum, held June 13-15 in Rosemont, IL. While pouches are recognized by many as one of the most sustainable forms of packaging due primarily to their minimal use of material and excellent product/package ratios, flexible packaging may still face unfavorable public perceptions.
While consumers like flexible packaging for its shelf appeal, product protection and convenience, many express concern that it is not recyclable and usually ends up in landfills or is washed into our waterways. The laminated structures that do so much to prevent food waste and extend the shelf life of products also can make recycling impractical.
Even though flexible packaging is the fastest-growing segment of the industry, it is the public perception that sustainability means recyclability which stands in the way of even faster growth. This has become especially apparent in the last year, with growing resistance to the plastics used in most flexible packaging. These environmental concerns are impacting consumer purchasing decisions.
Flexible Packaging Offers Triple Win
Sal Pellingra, ProAmpac’s vice president for application & innovation development and a presenter at the Global Pouch Forum, pointed out that companies can improve their packaging sustainability by adopting flexible packaging.
“One approach that makes a significant impact to the environment is to reduce the amount of packaging being used. That is what flexible packaging can do,” Pellingra stated in remarks at the Forum. “That means right now, you have an immediate opportunity for a triple sustainability win.” His triple sustainability-win formula is as follows:
First, you win by shifting to flexible packaging. Reducing the amount of packaging means less carbon impact, less water usage, less fossil fuel, lower product-to-package ratio, less material-to-landfill, and less weight and fuel for transport.
Second, you win again by introducing available sustainability-facing solutions. Employing renewable, recyclable and post-consumer recycled (PCR)-based materials that are available today.
Third, you win by driving consumer acceptance through new package functionality. Utilizing flexible packaging with compelling and useful functional features such as dispensing, reclose-ability, dosing, one-way valves and other features that add utility and value.
However, the industry recognizes the recycling impediment, and suppliers are working globally to find ways to make pouches more sustainable. In this article, we examine recent innovations and product launches that should form a solid basis for growth in this sector.
Making Multilayer Packaging Recyclable
Multilayer packaging reliably ensures high-quality and fresh food products thanks to its properties. It protects the products and keeps them hygienic, thereby extending the shelf life of food. Smart solutions with multilayer packaging can play a part in reducing this unnecessary waste.
Multilayer packaging can be sustainable and may be produced from chemically recycled material.
“Today’s high-tech film packaging solutions consist of multiple materials and layers with different properties, such as an oxygen barrier. And thanks to the optimized use of materials, we were able to reduce the packaging volume to a minimum,” said Johannes Remmele, managing director of Südpack, one of four European companies involved in a project to perform chemical recycling.
Multilayer packaging consists of up to 11 individual, ultra-thin layers, making it considerably lighter and thinner than comparable packaging. In addition to reducing the amount of raw materials used, this also contributes to considerably lowering CO2 emissions during transport. All in all, multilayer packaging is clearly more resource efficient than its alternatives.
However, multilayer packaging could only be recycled to a limited extent, because mechanical recycling processes are not suitable for composite materials. “Within the ChemCycling project, BASF is working on advancing the chemical recycling of plastic waste, because this will make it possible to process and reuse previously non-recyclable plastics such as mixed plastics. In collaboration with our partners, we have now for the first time produced a prototype packaging made of chemically recycled polyamide and polyethylene. This goes to show that the recycling of multilayer packaging could soon come full circle,” explained Christoph Gahn, who is responsible for the polyamide business at BASF.
This pilot project was made possible through the collaboration between the four partners BASF, Borealis, Südpack and Zott. BASF supplies chemically recycled polyamide, while Borealis provides sustainably produced polyethylene. Südpack, one of Europe’s leading producers of film packaging for food products, uses these materials to produce multilayer film for a specially sealed Mozzarella packaging for Zott Gourmet Dairy.
“What is special about this pilot project is that both components of the packaging — polyamide and polyethylene — are made from chemically recycled material,” emphasized Maurits van Tol, Borealis senior vice president innovation, technology & circular economy solutions. “This innovative solution came about thanks to the selection of special polymers. In addition, the collaboration between the companies involved made it possible for the first time to consistently certify each step up from the raw material to the finished packaging.”
The raw materials for polyamide and polyethylene were produced in very small quantities as part of the “ChemCycling” project. The pyrolysis oil derived from plastic waste was supplied by a partner and fed into BASFs production as feedstock. According to the certified mass balance method, both plastics have an allocated 100 percent share of recycled materials.
Cheer Pack Gives Shape To Pouches
Compared to glass or plastic containers, CHEERPlus Cubes allow brand owners to merchandise product in a more compact, sustainable and convenient package.
“We’re very excited to be the first company in North American to offer three standard sizes of side gusset spouted pouches available to brand owners who want to differentiate their brand,” says Al Madonna, Cheer Pack North America marketing director.
CPNA is the first company in North America to market side gusset spouted pouches in three standard sizes – 250 ml, 330 ml, and 500 ml – and the company plans to roll out larger size options in 2020. In addition to the brick-and-mortar retail marketplace, flexible spouted pouches from CPNA have emerged as an ideal e-commerce grocery packaging solution for a wide range of product categories that include baby food, energy and nutrition products, sauces and condiments, and hand lotions.
By making eco-friendly sustainable flexible packaging that includes its CHEERPlus Cubes line of products, CPNA is committed to decreasing its carbon footprint through environmentally-conscious practices. CPNA’s stand-up pouches for food and non-food packaging create between 75 and 93 percent less greenhouse gas emissions compared to other packaging types. Additionally, with a 35-to-1 product-to-package ratio, stand-up pouches provide the most efficient package delivery system available, relative to other popular package types.