Suremballage et nécessité d'emballer : la confusion

Je commence par cet emballage certes élégant et délicat mais ô combien éco-Irresponsable…Bref, un kif de designer. La pomme n’a pas vraiment besoin d’être sur-emballée.

Un autre extrême, la récente campagne de sensibilisation lancée par ELIPSO : L'emballage c'est pas QUE quand y'en a trop !



Certes, cette campagne a décidé de jouer la carte de l’humour pour montrer l’utilité des emballages plastiques et souples, au risque de détourner le débat sur le véritable problème du suremballage.



Cette campagne ne doit pas faire perdre de vue qu’il est possible de réduire l’emballage, une responsabilité qui incombe à l’ensemble des acteurs. La critique à l’égard des emballages ne vise pas leur éradication, mais plutôt leur réduction.

C’est justement ce message que l’ADEME, en France, a choisi de défendre. En effet, l’ADEME, vient de lancer une campagne de sensibilisation pour minimiser le poids des déchets d’emballages.



Comme je l’ai déjà mentionné à maintes reprises, le problème de l’emballage est le suremballage. Un phénomène qui coûte cher au fabricant et agace énormément le client. L’emballage est un bien nécessaire plutôt qu’un mal. Il joue un rôle majeur dans la protection et la conservation des aliments en garantissant la sécurité alimentaire. Il constitue aussi un atout majeur dans la réduction des pertes de produits périssables.

Finalement, il faut allier design, fonctions essentielles de l’emballage et environnement.

Vous pouvez consulter ici le dossier consacré au suremballage (Over-packaging)

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Active Packaging: extend the shelf life

Active Packaging Solution: Where the Action Is

Active packaging interacts chemically with the food inside the package to safeguard against product degradation from exposure to oxygen and/or moisture. By using active packaging, processors can increase shelf life, protect flavor profiles and maintain the food’s appearance and texture — all without adding preservatives to the product formulation.

Read more...

New packaging 'triples' food shelf life

New food packaging can double or, in some cases, even triple the shelf life of certain foods for up to 24 months compared with conventional packaging, claims its manufacturer Superfos.

SuperLock packaging is said to achieve the longer shelf-life thanks to very low oxygen transmission rates obtained through a new oxygen barrier. And barrier protection is claimed on all packaging surfaces.

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Water coated bio tray could keep buns fresher

A tray combining biodegradability and moisture resistance attributes can extend the shelf life of baked goods and other food products, while reducing the eco footprint of the pack, claims a Hong Kong based packaging developer.

Biopack said that the initial sampling runs and trialling of its trays have shown that they are moisture, grease and water resistant.

Read more...

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Harmless-Dissolve: The incredible dissolving bag?

I’m wondering about the composition of this “magic” bag?

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Harmless-Dissolve is made from a hydro-degradable substrate which is 5 times stronger than normal polyethylene. It is a readily biodegradable, water soluble polymer which completely biodegrades in a composting environment, in a dishwasher or in a washing machine.

Harmless-Dissolve is non-toxic and is degraded by micro-organisms, moulds and yeasts. In the end the bag becomes carbon dioxide, water and biomass.

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Bioplastique : Nouvel Débouché, Nouvel Eldarodo?

Les agriculteurs misent sur la bio-industrie

Acoustique, chimie, bâtiment... Les champs de Beauce pourraient demain produire aussi pour l'industrie. Le premier bioproduit d'Eure-et-Loir, une chemise en biopolymère, entre en phase de commercialisation.

Jusqu'ici, et le slogan est devenu célèbre, dans les champs poussaient ... le pain ou les pâtes. Demain, on pourrait planter... l'isolation des maisons, les films d'emballage, les solvants pour peinture... C'est en tout cas ce qu'espèrent les agriculteurs, qui misent sur les bioproduits pour assurer leur avenir.

Lire la suite…

Les bio-plastiques, nouvel eldorado ou nouveaux OGM ?

En pleine crise financière et à l’aube d’une nouvelle augmentation du prix du baril de pétrole (+18% en 1 an et +400% en 10ans), de nombreuses recherches se portent sur les bio carburants et les polymères d’origine végétale appelées biopolymères ou « bioplastiques » comme la cellulose produite à partir de bois, de maïs ou encore l’amidon de pomme de terre. Les bioplastiques issus de la biomasse sont soit d’origine naturelle, soit d’origine synthétique. Les plus connus sont la cellulose, la protéine de soja, l’amidon et les polyesters produits par certaines bactéries. Le remplacement de la matière première fossile par une ressource renouvelable est bien évidemment le principal intérêt de ces bioplastiques.

Ainsi, même si pour l’instant la question du devenir de ces produits ne se pose pas encore sur le terrain, le débat est ouvert. Reste surtout à définir correctement ses bioplastiques afin d’éviter des abus de langage…

Lire la suite…

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Bioplastics News: The deal, Cargill and Micromidas

What is the deal with bioplastics?

Yes, corn-based packaging is better than petroleum-based packaging for absolutely necessary plastics that aren’t already successfully recycled, and for packaging that cannot be made of paper,” he says. “But it’s not as good as asking, ‘Why are we using so many containers?’ My worry is that PLA legitimizes single-serving, over-packaged products.” –Martin Bourque, executive director of the Berkeley Ecology Center

Read more…

More green chems from Cargill

Major agribusiness company Cargill is really getting into the green industrial chemicals market aside from its BioFoam polyurethanes; bioplastic from its NatureWorks subsidiary; and the assorted vegetable oil/corn-based chems as well as its biofuels business of course.

This recent announcement is the joint production of vegetable-based coating formulations called TopScreen DS13, which was developed by Cargill's new partner Topchim, a paper and cardboard coating technology company.

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Micromidas named Cal Clean Tech Open Finalist

Air, Water and Waste: Micromidas converts raw sewage into biodegradable plastic. John Bissell, CEO, commented: "The Cleantech Open has proven an exceptional opportunity from which we've drawn an amazing network of mentors and advisers. With their help, we are now eager to push into the pilot phase of our plan that allows us to demonstrate our value to our customers. Thank you, Cleantech Open."

Read more…

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MAP Biodegradable Packaging Prevents Potato Greening

Greenvale develops packaging for organic potatoes: new biodegradable MAP extends shelf-life, reduces wastage and cuts greening complaints by 50%.

Greenvale AP is the UK's largest supplier of fresh potatoes and Lady Balfour is one of the UK's top selling organic varieties, accounting for almost 10% of all organic potato sales in the UK.

In line with Greenvale's commitment to the environment, the new MAP (Modified Atmosphere Packaging) is biodegradable. "We originally changed over to a biodegradable film for packaging Lady Balfour some years ago," explains Charlotte Manwaring, key account manager at Greenvale's Market Drayton site. "Although it was a successful switch, the one area of customer complaint was greening.

"We developed the new MAP packaging to overcome this greening issue."

Greening can be caused by exposure to too much light or if the potatoes have a high respiration rate. Modified Atmosphere Packaging can reduce the respiration rate by regulating the relative proportions of carbon dioxide and oxygen in the pack. Greenvale achieves this by manipulating the number and size of the perforations in the film.

Having developed the new MAP biodegradable film, Greenvale instigated shelf-life trials to see if it reduced the greening levels in the Lady Balfour potatoes. "The trials showed that not only were we significantly reducing greening in the potatoes, with customer complaints cut by over 50%, but that we could also actually increase the shelf-life of the product, potentially reducing waste," says Manwaring.

Source

Read more: Using bioplastics lengthens shelf life of potatoes by 50%

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Bioplastics News : Cereplast, Metabolix and niche market

Cereplast develops algae-based bioplastics

Bioplastics maker Cereplast Inc. plans to launch a line of bioplastic resins based on all-natural algae by the end of 2010.

Cereplast algae-based resins could replace 50% or more of the petroleum content used in traditional plastic resins. Currently, Cereplast is using renewable material such as starches from corn, tapioca, wheat and potatoes and Ingeo PLA.

Algae-based resins represent an outstanding opportunity for companies across the plastic supply chain,” Cereplast founder, Chairman and CEO Frederic Scheer said in an Oct. 20 news release. “We believe that algae has the potential to become one of the most important green feedstocks for biofuels, as well as bioplastics.” Scheer said that the algae-based resins could be blended with polypropylene or other standard resins and used in injection molded or thermoformed parts. Cereplast also is working to use the new products in extrusion applications, he said.

Metabolix Announces that Pharmafilter Will Use Mirel™ Bioplastics in Innovative Hospital Waste Management System

Pharmafilter BV, a bioenergy technology company based in Amsterdam, has selected Mirel bioplastics for a suite of disposable products for hospital use. Pharmafilter BV is currently commercializing its patented Pharmafilter system as a cleaner, more efficient way for hospitals and the healthcare industry to reduce contaminated solid waste, food, and wastewater through anaerobic digestion. The Pharmafilter process reduces solid waste first through a grinding station and then through a series of purification steps, including anaerobic digestion. Outputs are biogas for fuel or power generation, biomass for energy conversion, and clean water.

“We selected Mirel because it fits right into our system,” said Eduardo Van Den Berg, CEO of Pharmafilter BV. “Mirel has the performance properties for single-use plastic service applications and it is biobased and biodegradable, so it is the most appropriate solution for the Pharmafilter process.”
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Bioplastics today, bioplastics tomorrow: major changes likely

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During a webinar last month, Jim Lunt, a consulting engineer and one of the founders of NatureWorks, predicted some significant changes for the bioplastics market, with a trend and focus away from single-use throwaway applications towards more durable products.

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Lunt noted that, although it seems certain to remain a niche market, processing of bioplastics is predicted to grow from its 2007 level of about 262,000 tonnes/yr of material processed, to about 1.5 million tones in 2011. The materials are being helped along by legislation around the world, he said, citing the Japanese government’s goal that 20% of all plastics consumer in the country be renewably sourced by 2020. In Germany, biodegradable plastics are exempt from the country’s recycling directive until 2012, which saves about €1.30/kg for packaging processors and their customers.

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According to Lunt, the current use of bioplastics, overwhelmingly in single-use applications destined for composting facilities, eventually will be overtaken by the materials’ use in durable goods. ‘Bioplastics’ is a far-reaching term that includes not only materials based on plant starch or other renewable resources, but also more traditional, petroleum-based thermoplastics which have some of their feedstock replaced with renewably sourced materials. For example, Braskem in Brazil has developed a method to make polyolefins from sugarcane-based ethylene.

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According to Lunt, the price of Braskem’s HDPE or LDPE, derived from sugarcane, still is about $0.80-$1.00/lb, about 20% more than standard polyethylene. Other bioplastics are more costly, in general: polylactic acid, for instance, runs about $0.85-$1.25/lb, while PHA from Telles costs about $2.50/lb on average, he said.

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Emballages éco-responsables au Québec: encore du chemin à parcourir

Je vous invite à lire l’article de Marie Lyan, publié aujourd’hui dans le Journal Metro de Montréal: Emballages éco-responsables au Québec: encore du chemin à parcourir.

Comme je l’ai déjà mentionné à maintes reprises, le problème de l’emballage est le suremballage. Dans un sondage récent, plus de 85 % des citoyens de Montréal croient qu’il y a trop d’emballage.

Il faut certes rappeler que l’emballage est un bien nécessaire plutôt qu’un mal. Il joue un rôle majeur dans la protection et la conservation des aliments en garantissant la sécurité alimentaire. Il constitue aussi un atout majeur dans la réduction des pertes de produits périssables.

Mais le suremballage coûte cher au fabricant et agace énormément le client. La solution pourrait venir de l’éco-conception, une approche novatrice qui consiste à concevoir et fabriquer des emballages qui répondent « mieux » aux impératifs environnementaux. Avec des emballages éco-conçus, l'entreprise utilise moins de matières premières, d'énergie et de transport, ce qui se traduit non seulement par un gain environnemental mais aussi par un gain économique.

En Europe, « Plus personne aujourd'hui ne met un emballage sur le marché s'il n'a pas été éco-conçu », estime Annette Freidinger, maître de conférence à l'École Nationale d'Agronomie et d'Industrie alimentaire de Nancy.

Cette vision est sans doute très, voire trop optimiste, car il reste encore beaucoup à faire en matière d’emballage et de structures pour recycler les emballages notamment au Québec ; il s’agit plutôt d’un objectif à atteindre dans le cadre de la lutte contre le suremballage.

Je vous invite à lire mon article publié dans le dernier numéro du Magazine Québec imprimerie: Éco-conception : réconcilier l’environnement et l’emballage

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Tesco not taking compostable packaging “any further”

Supermarket giant Tesco has said that it will not be taking compostable packaging "any further" and that it could even remove it from its stores altogether.

Speaking at the LARAC conference in Liverpool earlier this month, Sion Stanfield, head of waste and recycling at Tesco, outlined the work that the retailer was doing on recycling and packaging minimization - including moves towards more recycled content, smaller portion sizes and installing recycling units at its larger stores.

However, he said that compostable packaging - such as film - could "mess up" recycling systems and was therefore something the company would not be taking further. At present, Tesco uses home compostable film on a small range of organic products. This includes a cellulose-based film produced by Innovia Films called Natureflex. He said: "We are not taking compostable packaging any further as we know it makes a bit of a mess [of your recycling systems]. If anything it will come off the organics range which is where we have got it and have tested it."

Explaining his reasoning, Mr Stanfield said that Tesco had found that the packaging confused people who did not know to recycle it and they could end up disposing of it incorrectly. This echoed a warning by WRAP in 2007 that bioplastics could cause "serious problems" for recyclers and that the public did not know how to dispose of them.

However, commenting on the move, Andy Sweetman from Innovia Films said that consumers of Tesco's organics range were switched on about waste and therefore would know how to handle the material. The business development and sustainability manager, who is chairman of the board of European Bioplastics, also pointed out that there would be no problem with the film getting into industrial recycling processes because film was not widely recycled in that way. However, he agreed that there was some confusion over home compostable packaging and how it differed from packaging which was simply compostable - pointing out that a new logo was set to be launched next month to remedy the situation. This will be at the Association for Organics Recycling event in Coventry entitled 'Clarifying Compostable Packaging - the Way Forward!'

He said: "Where I would agree in terms of consumer confusion is that it is very important for our film to perform the same as packaging films and it is important that it looks like any other. The key is to label effectively.

"The Association for Organics Recycling is about to launch the logo for home compostable packaging because there has been some confusion about home compostable packaging until now that the seedling logo is for industrial composting. That is going to be clarified. Letting consumers know what to do with those materials is vital. I believe that if you label properly you can avoid confusion," he added.

Long-term

Mr Stanfield claimed that in the long-run, with oil running out, Tesco may revisit the idea of compostable bioplastic packaging but said that he did not envisage this any time soon.

Source

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Contenants, emballages et imprimés plus verts : une réalité, des opportunités!

Les lauréats de l’activité de reconnaissance organisée par Éco Entreprises Québec (ÉEQ) : Contenants, emballages et imprimés plus verts : une réalité, des opportunités! sont :

• A. Lassonde Inc., pour le design amélioré et la réduction du poids de sa bouteille de plastiquede 300 ml pour jus et boissons de fruits;
• Cascades Groupe Papiers Fins, pour la conception d’un emballage à rame de papier 100 %recyclé et recyclable;
• Revenu Québec, pour la réduction significative de la quantité de papier utilisée pour sescommunications administratives;
• TELUS, pour l’élimination de l’emballage en plastique et l’utilisation exclusive de papier 100 %recyclé et recyclable pour sa boîte d’accessoires;
• Yves Rocher, pour la mise en marché d’une écorecharge pour sa gamme Inositol Végétal.

Le comité a également décerné deux mentions spécifiques afin de souligner la contribution particulière de :

• Les Eaux Naya Inc., pour la mise en marché d’une bouteille d’eau composée de 50 % de plastique recyclé post-consommation;
• Société des alcools du Québec, pour son projet d’élimination des sacs à usage unique.

Pour consulter les fiches d'information sur les LAURÉATS/MENTIONS SPÉCIFIQUES, cliquez ici

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