From Research to the Shelf - July 2020

Monthly showcase of packaging solutions to communicate, protect and distribute commonly used products.

Recycled plastic for packaging "bio" sausages. For its new organic line of poultry sausages, the Gutfried brand (Zur Mühlen Gruppe) has chosen a sustainable packaging made, for about two thirds, with recycled plastic.

The bottom film and top film of the packaging each consist of several layers of different polymers and are produced by the film producer SÜDPACK, through an innovative recycling process of mixed plastic waste. The used plastic is converted into pyrolysis oil in a high-temperature process. Like fossil based raw materials, this oil is then used at the beginning of the chemical production chain, thus saving conventional crude oil. The recycled content is allocated to the chemical end products via a mass balance method. The products thus have the same high quality and performance as new products.

Other partners of this project are BASF and SABIC, that supplies, respectively,  the necessary polyamide and polyethylene. 

Refill of detergents: new life to empty bottles. Founded in 2012, Welsh start-up Splosh sells online environmentally friendly personal and home care detergents, packaged in refill bags and with ultra-concentrated formulations to optimise packaging.

The choice of refill format aims to allow - and promote - the reuse of empty bottles, which would otherwise end up in landfills.

Customers simply rinse any empty detergent bottle, fill it with a Splosh refill, apply the relevant label, add water and mix. The empty bags of Splosh products can then be returned free of charge to the distributor, who will recycle them and transform them into new useful products. This "circular" practice has so far allowed more than 663,000 bottles to be "diverted" from the landfill.

Food ice: a zero impact line. One hundred percent vegetable and compostable with minimal impact on the environment. This is the pack designed for the new Green line of Ice Cube*, Italy's leading producer of packaged food ice. Designed to reduce the environmental impact without compromising its resistance, the packaging is made with a granule derived from cereal products, compostable, biodegradable and disintegrable. As far as the ink is concerned, we opted for a black lowered in the gradation of grey, the least impacting colour in absolute terms. But that's not all. It will be the hot Sicilian sun, thanks to a new photovoltaic system, to power all Ice Cube ice production. So, with good reason, the pack won first place in the "Packaging & design" category at the 2020 edition of the NC Awards with "The Unimpactful Change".

* Ice3 Cube and Ice3 Crushed of the line will be available in Eataly stores, and in the French large-scale retail trade

 

Find out more information about the companies mentioned in this article and published in the Buyers' Guide - PackBook by ItaliaImballaggio
Istituto Italiano Imballaggio

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