Scenarios of sustainability and innovation

MEAT-TECH by Ipack Ima has started a journey towards the edition scheduled at Fieramilano from 22 through 26 October 2021, in conjunction with TuttoFood and Host. And it has done  so by calling together experts and operators in the sector on a virtual platform on 24 March, to take stock of sustainable packaging for the meat and cured meats sector.               

360 companies (manufacturers, suppliers of materials and technologies, retailers) were connected to the webinar on March 24 - organized by MEAT-TECH in collaboration with Assica  - demonstrating the keen interest in the topic on the table, i.e. sustainable packaging for the meat and cured meat sector.

At the opening of the event, Nicola Levoni, President of Assica, emphasized that the world he represents has been committed to sustainability issues for over 20 years.

Stefano Mele, CEO of Gruppo Fabbri, spoke of how sustainability and regulatory aspects can represent an opportunity to find new solutions, develop innovative products and orient the tastes and demands of consumers.

An example of this is the cooperation with the British sausage producer Westaway Sausages, for which Gruppo Fabbri has identified packaging solutions with compostable film: a market success supported by research, as well as by a consistent communication and promotion activity.

Simone Pedrazzini, Quantis Italia,, spoke about a story telling oriented to eco-design, end-of-life management and plastic waste, highlighting the importance of combining scientific and business aspects when talking about sustainability. 

Nella Bovis and Giovanna Saccani, from SSICA - Stazione Sperimentale per le conserve di Parma (Experimental Station for Canned Products in Parma), addressed the topic of bioplastics, recyclable plastics, PET-based or cellulosic monomaterials.

Rossano Bozzi, CEO of IIPACK IMA, gave some anticipations on the contents of MEAT-TECH, which will have in green packaging and innovative formulations the main trend topics. Underlining the event’s commitment in this area, the announcement that the second edition of the International Packaging Speaks Green Forum, organized by Ucima, will also be held during the show. 

With Luigi De Nardo of the Milan Polytechnic, the webinar got to the heart of research applied to green packaging. Plastic is defined as an absolutely useful product and this requires an approach based on objective data.
The focus shifts in the direction of the circular economy as evidenced also by the targets defined at the European legislative level. The paradigm shift is based on the concepts of prevention, reduction, and recycling to minimize landfilling at the end of the packaging life cycle. 

The management of the recycling chain is closely linked to packaging design, which is combined with economic criteria: for the industry this translates, for example, into the reduction in weight of the packages resulting from the optimization of the material used.
De Nardo then called for the integration of research and industry, with the aim of accelerating the development of innovative materials and reducing food waste; topics on which the Politecnico di Milano is committed with experiments related to new solutions of materials and design.