Endeavour Group’s wine bottling and packaging arm Vinpac International has partnered with Australian glass packaging company Orora on a new lightweight 750ml sparkling bottle – the first of its kind in Australia.

“To have an Australian-made innovative sustainable packaging option for our customers is important to us. By collaborating with Orora to produce a lighter weight sparkling bottle solution that will provide a combination of commercial and environmental benefits for our customers is really exciting,” said Vinpac International’s Commercial Manager James Vallance.

Although red, white and rose wine bottles have been available in lightweight options for some time, sparkling wine is traditionally bottled in heavier, more premium packaging.

The first, Australian lightweight option for bubbles has been manufactured at Orora’s state-of-the-art facility in Gawler, South Australia, and was tested at Vinpac’s facilities in Angaston in March. It weighs 580g, which is 100 grams less than a standard sparkling wine bottle an approximate 15 percent total reduction in weight

The bottle retains the same look and feel as a standard 750ml sparkling bottle, which means there is no need to change labelling or other packaging elements.

The sustainable bottle has been welcomed by Pinnacle Drinks, the supplier arm of Endeavour Group. Pinnacle Drinks is now releasing a number of brands in the lightweight sparkling bottle, including the popular Minchinbury sparkling range. The 2021 vintage has been bottled in the sustainable packaging and will be available in BWS and Dan Murphy’s stores later this month. 

“To have the Minchinbury sparkling range first to market is really exciting as it is a trusted brand. Australians have marked special occasions and celebrations with a bottle of Minchinbury for over a century and to see the brand now move into a more sustainable packaging option is an exciting new chapter,” said Pinnacle Drinks Assistant Brand Manager Nicola Demetriou.

There are significant environmental benefits by switching to this bottle, and Pinnacle Drinks estimates it will remove 320 tonnes of packaging from its supply chain which equates to around 62 cars off the road each year. 

GSKCH has made the commitment that 100 per cent of its product packaging will be recyclable or reusable, where quality and safety permits, by 2025. Its sustainability initiatives support GSK’s commitment to achieve a net zero impact on climate and a positive impact on nature by 2030.

Albéa’s Greenleaf 2 laminate tube technology provides the same product protection as current tubes and enables the tubes to be recyclable wherever collection programmes exist and are active.

GSKCH will start the recyclable rollout in Europe this July with its Sensodyne Pronamel tubes. This will be bolstered by a second partnership with EPL Global to produce tubes in Plantina laminates. Both laminates have passed recycling-readiness tests set by the US-based Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) and by Europe’s RecyClass. meaning that the tubes will be recyclable and compatible with existing recycling processes.

It is anticipated that the combined moves will see over a billion toothpaste tubes per year become recyclable by 2025.

Karl Graves, business director at Albéa Tubes, said: “Our commitment is to make 100 per cent of our tubes recyclable by 2025 while offering innovative solutions with PCR, paper and bio-based resins. Responsible packaging is now a must-have – and it requires close collaboration between a committed brand and a daring supplier.”

Sarah McDonald, vice president of sustainability at GSKCH, said: “We have made the commitment that 100 per cent of our product packaging will be recyclable or reusable, where quality and safety permits, by 2025. This is just one part of our ongoing sustainability journey, in which we are working to address the environmental and societal barriers to everyday health.”

Parag Chaturvedi, vice president of operations at EPL Americas, said: “EPL is proud to be a critical partner towards GSK’s aspirations to have a net-zero impact on the environment by 2030. We are committed to leading the pack in sustainable packaging — and already are ahead on this journey with Platina, the first tube-and-cap combination to be recognised by the APR as fully sustainable and completely recyclable.”

UK-based supermarket chain Waitrose is reintroducing its ten lines of food sharing platters with less packaging material after a full redesign.

The sandwich, roll and wrap sharing platters will now come in a cardboard base without an outer case or lid.

Waitrose has reduced the use of packaging in the products by 65% overall, saving 60% of single-use plastic from sandwiches and 40% single-use plastic on wraps.

The fully recyclable boxes and film are designed in a ready-to-serve format to make food sharing easy.

Through this initiative, the retailer plans to save 30t of single-use plastic and card a year.

Waitrose Food to Go partner and product developer Rebecca Neale said: “It was really important to relaunch our sandwich platters with less packaging as they’ve traditionally been reliant on plastic.

“We want to offer a more sustainable alternative as summer approaches and we all entertain again.

“It’s our priority to reduce single-use plastic wherever we can as we approach our target of making all our own-label packaging widely recycled, reusable or home compostable by 2023.”

Most of the sustainable platters are launching this week to coincide with the further relaxation of England’s national lockdown rules on 17 May.

Indoor socialising and dining, as well as other forms of events and entertainment, are set to return by the end of the month.

In January, non-governmental environmental organisation Greenpeace announced that Waitrose had come first in its annual league table of UK supermarkets for plastic reduction efforts.

This was the second consecutive year for which the retailer had come first in the league table.

In March, the retailer announced plans to scrap children’s magazines containing disposable toys.

Modern packaging must do much more than simply meet the specific requirements for transport, storage and presentation: it must also be sustainable. But what does sustainable really mean? It means that the material must be environmentally friendly and made from renewable resources, be sturdy enough to enable re-use and be easy to recycle when it comes to the end of its useful life. For many years, a research group at the University of Göttingen has put their energy and expertise into investigating manufacturing processes for products made of popcorn. These products have the potential to be environmentally friendly alternatives to polystyrene or plastic. The University has now signed a licence agreement with the company Nordgetreide for the commercial use of the process and products for the packaging sector.

The packaging industry is still the biggest purchaser of plastic products, accounting for almost 40 per cent. However, large producers and retail chains have long since begun to rethink their packaging policies and aim for more recycling. The research group Chemie und Verfahrenstechnik von Verbundwerkstoffen (chemistry and process engineering of composite materials) at the Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology at Göttingen University has now succeeded in developing a novel process, based on its many years of experience in the field of renewable raw materials. The results are that three-dimensional moulded forms can be produced from "granulated" popcorn. The great advantage of this granular material is that it comes from renewable biological sources, is environmentally friendly and sustainable. It is therefore an excellent alternative to the polystyrene products used previously.

"This new process, based on technology developed in the plastic industry, enables the production of a wide range of moulded parts," explains the head of the research group, Professor Alireza Kharazipour. "This is particularly important when considering packaging because it ensures that products are transported safely which minimises waste. And this has all been achieved using a material that will even be biodegradable afterwards." In addition, the new popcorn products have water-repellent properties, which opens up new avenues for future applications.

Stefan Schult, Managing Director of Nordgetreide, which holds an exclusive licence, adds: "Each and every day we pollute our Earth with an ever increasing amount of plastic waste that will be a burden on our eco-system for thousands of years. Our popcorn packaging is a great sustainable alternative to polystyrene which is derived from petroleum. The plant-based packaging is made from the inedible by-products of Cornflakes production and can actually be composted after use without any residue."

The licence agreement between the University and Nordgetreide was brokered by MBM ScienceBridge GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of the University of Göttingen Public Law Foundation. The agency acts for a total of nine universities and scientific institutions in Lower Saxony. MBM ScienceBridge examines scientific inventions for the possibility of a patent application and for economic potential. It then takes care of worldwide marketing, as well as negotiation, support and monitoring of licensing agreements. The current portfolio includes projects in biomedicine, medical technology, measurement technology, chemistry, physics, forestry and agricultural sciences.

Eco-Products has over 30 years’ experience in compostable foodservice products, which will complement a range of sustainable packaging solutions from Detpak.

The Chief Executive Officer of parent company Detmold Group, Alf Ianniello, said the partnership was an important development in Detpak’s ongoing commitment to customers.

“Detpak has long been an innovator of paper and board products and is an industry leader in the development of recyclable product solutions. This partnership extends our range to further assist customers in diverting waste from landfill.”

The partnership will see new items added to the Detpak range, supplied by certified B Corp business Eco-Products, whose assortment of products includes compostable cups, takeaway containers, tableware and other foodservice packaging options.

For the initiative create concept, White Bear explored what comes to mind when people think of recycling. The universally known recycling symbol inspired the studio to transform the product itself into its own recognisable symbol, with the logo conveying the brand’s purpose before the package is opened.

The bright colour palette and street inspired typography appeals to the brand’s time poor, Millennial and Gen Z demographic. To generate chatter across digital and turn their heads White Bear played with language like ‘Don’t recycle’ and with the campaign strapline ‘Eat, rinse, sleep.’ The strapline tells customers how to use the product but also aims to ring with nostalgia from the days of the rave culture.

In a similar repetitive style, the identity includes a pattern inspired by simple food shapes to be used across the brand world, which can also be customasible to the fast food chain it will appear in.

06 May 2021 --- Instead of decrying plastic packaging as the root of environmental degradation, Philipp Pap, director of sustainability and corporate development at Coveris, is arguing the material could help lead industry to the opposite outcome. 

The plastic packaging industry is “part of the solution” to environmental challenges like climate change rather than the cause, he tells PackagingInsights.

As a plastic packaging supplier, Coveris focuses on addressing waste in all its forms and reconceiving it as a valuable resource. “We focus our sustainability efforts on the idea of no waste of our products, our packaging or in our operations, enforcing recycling and second life approaches,” says Pap.

In this exclusive interview, Pap shares his views on the potential consequences of the anti-plastic movement on food waste prevention and global recycling efforts. 

“Evil plastic” reduces food waste
Both single-use plastic use and accumulating CO2 emissions are increasingly viewed as detrimental to the environment. And legislative action is afoot – while the EU Single-Use Plastic Directive will ban the ten highest polluting disposable plastic items from July, the UN Paris Agreement is working to limit global warming to below 2°C, preferably to 1.5°C.

Pap highlights “the planet’s significant food waste problem” as a key climate change contributor. Despite global hunger continuing to rise, the Food and Agriculture Organization estimates a third of all food produced globally is lost or goes to waste. Crucially, food loss and waste produces up to 6 percent of global CO2 emissions. 

Plastic packaging helps avoid food waste due to its barrier qualities and ability to extend shelf life, Pap points out.

Returning to carbon emissions, Pap says a maximum of 10 percent of CO2 emissions from an average packed food product results from its packaging. “This very much shows how the debate is biased toward the wrong subject in our opinion.”

“We believe the current discussions around plastics should be more data-based and built on scientific evidence. If that were done, we would realize plastic packaging has a pivotal role in reducing CO2 emissions via a significant reduction of food waste,” he stresses.

“The less we protect food with packaging, the more food waste is produced and the higher the CO2 emissions.”

Playing devil’s advocate
Plastic is not the only material on the market protecting food throughout supply chain transit. 

Innova Market Insights’ third top packaging trend for 2021, “Fiber-Based Frenzy,” has spotlighted an accelerated movement to launch paper-based alternatives in fresh produce packaging and other food categories.

However, Pap highlights both glass and paper packaging require more material input than plastic, resulting in higher CO2 emissions. He adds that paper does not provide the same performance in terms of balancing barrier qualities with minimal material usage.

The trifecta to solidify recycling efforts
In Pap’s view, plastic packaging is “here to stay for a reason” and recycling is vital to keeping plastic in the circular economy. Currently, there are three main challenges – and critical success factors – to increasing the plastic packaging recycling rate:

• Public investment into waste collection.
• Public and private investment into chemical recycling.
• Legislative support to allow the use of recycled materials.

More studies are still needed to bolster waste collection systems. Packaging producers are in need of higher volumes of recycled plastic to actually increase recycled content, Pap flags. 

“Plastic taxes introduced across Europe are all tied to using recycled materials but there needs to be a feasible environment where waste collection works on a national level.”

Meanwhile, the need for chemical recycling is a topic which “has not called for sufficient attention in the past.” Chemical recycling can turn recycled plastic waste into food-grade packaging materials. “The technology is there but there are insufficient capacities out on the market so far,” Pap maintains.

Coveris’ eco-initiatives
Lacking food-grade recycled plastics supply brings about a third industry headache: governments’ role in supporting and incentivizing the use of recycling. 

“At the moment, food products are already frequently packed with recyclable packaging solutions but legislation does not actually permit for the use of recycled materials,” he explains. 

Coveris feeds nearly all of its production waste back into the manufacturing process where legislation allows and has established local Green Teams at its production sites to continuously reduce waste.

The manufacturer’s R&D teams devise product solutions made with mono-materials for enhanced recyclability. The manufacturer also develops packaging with recycled content, such as its 100 percent recycled Duralite-R film. 

Concluding thoughts
Can the packaging loop ever be fully closed? Pap argues it can be. “The question is how many times materials can go through the loop before they are no longer usable, or if the cost, effort and CO2 impact are too high to justify such efforts.” 

“We all have a responsibility – consumers, retailers, producers and the government – to work toward closing that loop.”

By Anni Schleicher

The company has committed to ambitious actions to meet the scientifically established threshold necessary to keep global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels.

“Sealed Air is leading our industry in the race to zero emissions. This is not only the right thing to do, it is our purpose—to make the world better than we found it,” said Ted Doheny, President and CEO of Sealed Air. “Our talented people are working hard to create sustainable solutions and innovate to eliminate resource waste. We will also continue to invest in technology and collaborate with our partners and suppliers to beat this goal.”

Climate Change and Sealed Air’s Purpose

Addressing climate change is a critical part of Sealed Air’s purpose and strategy and is key to making the company’s business, supply chain, customers’ businesses, and communities around the world more resilient.

The company is aiming to establish new benchmarks for mitigating environmental and societal risks such as climate change while generating long-term value for stakeholders and society. Among the actions Sealed Air is taking to reduce carbon emissions within the company’s operations, supply chain, and beyond are:

• Adopting state-of-the-art technology and innovation for automated packaging solutions and systems, advanced recycling, and recyclable and renewable materials
• Continuing investments in renewable energy such as a solar power project in California and a wind power project in Argentina
• Improving efficiencies that reduce emissions in global operations for the company and its customers
• Contributing to the reduction of waste across the value chain including making improvements to the shelf life of food and reducing food waste, enhancing transportation efficiency, and protecting goods in transit  

CDP Recognition

For the seventh consecutive year Sealed Air has been recognized by CDP for excellent performance in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Sealed Air received an A- for the company’s 2020 CDP climate disclosure.

For 20 years, CDP has served as a global non-profit that runs the world’s leading environmental disclosure platform, the widely recognized gold standard in corporate environmental reporting. In 2020, more than 9,600 companies disclosed environmental data through CDP at the request of 150 major purchasing organizations.

In addition, for the second year in a row, Sealed Air was named to the 2020 CDP Supplier Engagement Leaderboard for its actions and strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address climate-related issues and risks in its supply chain. By making this list, Sealed Air sits among the top 7% of companies assessed for supplier engagement on climate change.

About Sealed Air

Sealed Air is in business to protect, to solve critical packaging challenges, and to leave our world better than we found it. Our solutions and systems include CRYOVAC® brand food packaging, SEALED AIR® brand protective packaging, AUTOBAG® brand automated systems and BUBBLE WRAP® brand packaging. These brands collectively enable a more efficient, secure and less wasteful global food supply chain and enhance commerce through fulfillment and packaging solutions to protect the worldwide movement of goods.

Sealed Air’s industry-leading expertise in science, engineering, and innovation transforms businesses, industries, and consumers’ lives. The company continues to expand its portfolio of next-generation sustainable solutions including packaging materials, automated systems, and smart services to deliver savings and create measurable long-term value.

Sealed Air generated $4.9 billion in sales in 2020 and has approximately 16,500 employees who serve customers in 115 countries. To learn more, visit www.sealedair.com.