Green Packaging in the BIG EASY: Pilot Conducted in New Orleans Fish House

New Orleans seafood is going green. Global Green USA’s Coalition for Resource Recovery (CoRR) joined forces this past week with the New Orleans Fish House to test recyclable coated corrugated boxes as methods of transporting locally caught seafood. These innovative boxes, made by CoRR members Cascades Industrial Packaging and Interstate Container, are designed to be recyclable, unlike the paraffin-coated packaging typically used, and also withstand the icy seafood packing process.

“It may seem unusual to get this excited about cardboard boxes, but we are thrilled to highlight these recyclable products,” said Global Green USA’s Lily Kelly, interim director of CoRR. “If we were to replace all the unrecyclable packaging used across the country for seafood, produce, poultry and meats, it would be the equivalent of shutting down an entire coal-fired power plant with no loss of energy, and a tremendous gain in savings and revenue for grocers and restaurants.”

“From a business perspective, it makes perfect sense,” said Eddie Gonzales, Sales Representative at the New Orleans Fish House. “Our customers don’t want to bear the costs of landfilling boxes, so recyclable packaging is an added value that we can offer. It’s the next step in our evolution.”

The pilot began at the New Orleans Fish House, where seafood and ice were placed in the recyclable boxes, palletized, and loaded onto their delivery truck. Representatives from Global Green USA and the packaging companies followed the truck as it made deliveries in the Baton Rouge area, observing the unloading of the seafood at an event venue, a large hotel, and a restaurant. At each location, the recipients of the boxes confirmed that the boxes were performing well, and expressed excitement that they were recyclable. “It will save us time and keep costs and waste down. I love them,” said one recipient.

This pilot marks a step toward more sustainable food systems: greens, vegetables, seafood, and meats are often transported in paraffin-coated cardboard, generating 1.45 million tons of solid waste that must be sent to landfills or burned. If these boxes are designed for recycling, and recovered, retailers and restaurants could realize a net benefit of combined cost savings and revenue of $200 million nationwide.

The boxes, which were donated for testing by Cascades and Interstate Container, are recyclable in accordance with the Fibre Box Association’s recyclability and repulpability protocol for wax-alternative coatings. “The Cascades Polar box, which we tested for this pilot, stood up to the process quite well,” said Islem Yezza, Technical and Business Development Director at Cascades. “We are proud to be able to provide a variety of more sustainable alternatives to unrecoverable polystyrene foam and wax-coated boxes.”

Jeff Cormier, National Sales and Marketing Manager at Interstate Container, was likewise pleased with the results of the pilot. “We make Greencoat recyclable boxes for a variety of uses, and have seen a lot of success with poultry and produce,” he said. “We are very encouraged by the outcome of this pilot, and look forward to bringing recyclable seafood boxes to New Orleans and beyond.” 

Foodservice packaging: The End of a Persistent Environmental Myth

The most persistent environmental myth about foodservice packaging concerns their role in the solid waste stream, and particularly that which ends up in landfills. Year after year, data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency shows that paper and plastic foodservice packaging products make up a tiny portion – under two percent! – of the municipal solid waste discards in landfills in the United States. Compare that to other items that end up in landfills:

Source: FPI

Source: U.S. EnvironmentalProtection Agency. Municipal Solid Waste in the United States: 2011 Facts andFigures

My comments:

• Food waste is the environmental sleeping giant
• In the near future the role of packaging will change; we will see packaging as a resource rather than a resource waster.
• Packaging is part of the solution, not the problem: preventing food waste and saving resources and assuring the safety and security of the food supply
• A bright future for Smart Packaging (active and intelligent): Increasing health and environmental awareness, rising food prices and food safety concerns and improved purchasing power will drive growth in the smart packaging market.

Bright future for Reusable Plastic Containers (RPC)?

Study Indicates Fresh Produce Damage Reductionwith Reusables

According to a study initiated by the Stiftung Initiative Mehrweg (SIM) -a German foundation for reusable systems- carried out by Fraunhofer Institute and the University of Bonn, throughout the whole supply chain for fresh fruit and vegetables from the producer to the retail, around 4 percent of all disposable packaging was damaged, while this figure was just 0.1 percent for reusable packaging.

In the course of the study, more than 78,000 packaging units for transport were inspected at central warehouses and retailers, including 52 percent reusable and 48 percent single trip.

The study determined that if only reusable containers were used in the German market, only 1,100 tonnes of fruit and vegetables valued at two million Euro would have been lost. It was estimated that if only single trip packaging had been used, the lost product would translate to 36,000 tonnes valued at 68 million Euro.

Extrapolating from these figures to the Spanish global exports of fresh fruits and vegetables, more than 1,800 million euros could be saved when using just reusable crates and containers.

The European Commission estimates that approximately 89 million tonnes of food are wasted every year in Europe, with Germany on top of the ranking, with 10.7 million tonnes of wastage and Spain in sixth place, with 7.7 million. Although most of the wastage happens at the end of the food supply chain (retailers and consumers), there are also losses in the production and distribution chain, which is the one under scrutiny in this report.

William Reynolds cuts packaging waste with returnable crate scheme

The UK's leading fresh fruit and vegetable supplier to the restaurant and catering industry has implemented a reusable transit packaging (RTP) crate scheme with Schoeller Allibert, to reduce waste and keep produce fresh. Reynolds estimates that, as a result, over the last year it has sent out 750,000 fewer cardboard and wooden boxes to customers and saved hundreds of tonnes of cardboard and paper.

Reynolds took the decision to move away from single trip cardboard packaging to a returnable crate scheme with Schoeller Allibert. So far, over 1,000 customers have switched to deliveries with the Maxinest crates, which have an average lifetime Product Carbon Footprint of just 26 kgCO2e for each crate, 68% less than cardboard.

Fishbox rental company, PPS East Limited, has reported a steady increase in directsales for its reusable packaging

Over recent months the company has seen added interest from fish merchants, suppliers and processors who are looking to purchase from PPS East various reusable containers, including plastic boxes, pans, defrosting crates and pallets for internal factory use. For storage and transportation of product to customers, orders are being placed for fish fillet trays, salmon and whole fish boxes, bale-arm crates, baskets, tubs and bins.

Traditionally, PPS East has supplied boxes for the Humber fish auction markets and also rents reusable plastic packaging for fresh fish suppliers in the UK and Europe. The company says that since the recent launch of its direct sales division revenue has increased and as a result, PPS East is now stocking at it Grimsby site a comprehensive range of fish box sizes (6kg, 10kg, 15kg, 25kg, 40kg & 50kg) for direct sales to customers. The company can also source most types of plastic containers as required, along with plastic pallets, wheeled dollies, insulated bins, pallet boxes, dolavs, etc

IFCOReusable Plastic Containers Show Benefits over One-way Corrugated Boxes in NewLife Cycle Study

IFCO SYSTEMS, the global leader in Reusable Plastic Containers (RPCs) for fresh products, today released a study confirming RPCs as a sustainable packaging option. The report shows the IFCO solution generates 82% less solid waste, consumes 92% less water, requires 49% lower energy demand, and lowers ozone depletion by 76% for a weighted average of 10 top produce commodities compared with shipping the same amount of produce in display-ready corrugated boxes. The report was produced by Franklin Associates, a Division of ERG, a leading consulting company specializing in life cycle analyses and solid waste management. 

Safeway Expands Usage of ReusableShipping Containers to Produce

Last summer (June 2012), Safeway has transitioned to using reusable product containers (RPCs), rather than corrugated boxes, to ship many types of produce from the farm fields, through the distribution channel and to final store destination. This transition eliminated the use of over 17 million pounds of corrugated boxes, , reduced CO2 by 37,518 tonnes, avoided harvest of 114,000 trees.

Greener Packaging Award

Le Greener Packaging Award, lancé en 2012, vise à récompenser les emballages qui ont été conçus pour réduire au mieux leur impact environnemental. Cette année, grande nouveauté, les emballages industriels rentrent dans la compétition!

La remise des prix 2013 aura lieu durant la Semaine Européenne de la Réduction des Déchets. Ces Awards récompenseront non seulement des entreprises ayant mis sur le marché un produit emballé, qu’il soit ménager ou industriel, dont le contenant a été pensé du point de vue de son empreinte environnementale, mais aussi des étudiants ou des designers professionnels qui ont imaginé un emballage plus ‘vert’.

Tous les dossiers introduits seront minutieusement examinés par un jury d’experts issus du monde académique, scientifique, politique, associatif et entrepreneurial. Les critères retenus porteront, entre autres, sur la réduction du poids/volume, l’origine des matériaux, la prise en compte de la fin de vie, la réduction du gaspillage de produit, l’optimisation du transport/de la logistique, la communication aux consommateurs etc...

Comment participer ?

Les dossiers de candidature peuvent être introduits jusqu’au 1^er octobre via le site web www.greenerpackagingaward.be, site web qui comprend également le règlement du concours, ainsi que toutes les modalités de participation.

The role of packaging in minimizing food waste in the supply chain of the future

Australian-first research by RMIT University has shown the vital role of packaging in minimising food waste.

There are significant opportunities to reduce food waste in the supply chain through improvements and innovation in packaging and by communicating these benefits and opportunities to industry stakeholders.

Food is lost and wasted for many reasons, including damage in the field from severe weather events and disposal of inedible components during food preparation. While this loss/waste is largely unavoidable, other waste occurs due to inefficiencies or poor handling in the supply chain. This is where packaging can play an important role, for example by reducing damage in transit and handling or by extending shelf life. A number of packaging opportunities to reduce waste have been identified in this report, based on an extensive literature review and interviews with stakeholders. They are:

1) Distribution packaging that provides better protection and shelf life for fresh produce as it moves from the farm to the processor, wholesaler or retailer. This may require the development of tailored solutions for individual products.

2) Distribution packaging that supports recovery of surplus and unsaleable fresh produce from farms and redirects it to food rescue organisations.

3) Improved design of secondary packaging to ensure that it is fit-for-purpose, i.e. that it adequately protects food products as they move through the supply chain. Packaging developers need to understand the distribution process and where and why waste occurs.

4) A continuing shift to pre-packed and processed foods to extend the shelf life of food products and reduce waste in distribution and at the point of consumption (the home or food services provider). The packaging itself also needs to be recoverable to minimise overall environmental impacts.

5) Adoption of new packaging materials and technologies, such as modified atmosphere packaging and oxygen scavengers, to extend the shelf life of foods.

6) Education of manufacturers, retailers and consumers about the meaning of use-by and best-before date marks on primary packaging to ensure that these are used appropriately. Confusion about date marking results in food being thrown away when it is still safe to eat.

7) Product and packaging development to cater for changing consumption patterns and smaller households. Single and smaller serve products will reduce waste by meeting the needs of single and two person households.

8) Collaboration between manufacturers and retailers to improve the industry’s understanding of food waste in the supply chain. Greater attention to be given to where and why this occurs, tracking over time, will reduce the costs and environmental impacts of waste.

9) More synchronised supply chains that use intelligent packaging and data sharing to reduce excess or out-of-date stock.

10) Increased use of retail ready packaging to reduce double handling and damage and improve stock turnover, while ensuring that it is designed for effective product protection and recoverability (reuse or recycling) at end of life.

The implementation of these initiatives could be supported through further research and communication activities to highlight the critical links and trade-offs between packaging consumption, protection and containment of food, and food waste.

Read the full report

Emballage Alimentaire: un ami de l'environnement et un partenaire intelligent

Je vous invite à lire mon article publié dans le dernier numéro de la revue l’Actualité Alimentaire (Spécial 10 ans): Emballage Alimentaire: un ami de l'environnement et un partenaire intelligent

Les tendances socioculturelles en pleine mutation, une demande toujours plus grande pour la sécurité, le respect de l’environnement et le confort sont les principaux moteurs de l’innovation en emballage alimentaire.

Introduction

Éphémères, parfois encombrants, les emballages font partie intégrante de notre quotidien depuis de nombreuses années. Ils n’ont eu de cesse de se transformer. L’industrie agroalimentaire, première utilisatrice d’emballages est aussi le principal vecteur d’innovation pour le secteur.

Aux emballages standards, simplifiés, compétitifs et dotés de fonctions essentiellement techniques, répondent d’autres emballages spécifiques, sophistiqués et différenciant qui tissent une relation entre marques et clients. Les nouveaux emballages doivent contribuer à la préservation de la salubrité et des propriétés organoleptiques et nutritionnelles du produit emballé, à la prolongation de la durée de vie des aliments, à la protection de l’environnement, à l’accroissement de la rentabilité, au confort d’utilisation et à la différenciation. 

Conclusions 

Les enjeux de l’industrie alimentaire sont multiples : sécurité alimentaire, prolongation de la durée de vie des aliments et réduction du gaspillage alimentaire. Dans ce contexte, l’emballage, peut offrir des pistes de solutions qui méritent d’être explorées.  Ces nouveaux emballages apportent finalement une valeur ajoutée aux produits et garantissent un lien de confiance entre le consommateur et le produit, voire la marque.

Finalement, faire cohabiter innovation, fonctionnalité et responsabilité environnementale constitue le challenge quotidien de l’industrie de l’emballage.

Lire la suite

Nb: N'hésitez pas à me contacter (pak-bec@hotmail.com) si vous voulez consulter l'intégrale de cet article.

CoRR Paper Foodservice Packaging Conference: Wrap-up and videos

Thanks to Scott Seydel for recording and sharing our last Food Packaging CoRR Conference, held in Washington few weeks ago. 

Discussion Panel

Lily Kelly, Director of Global Green's Coalition for Resource Recycling organized a panel of experts on recyclable wholesale fresh food packaging at the CoRR's member meeting in the nation's Capitol on April 4, 2013. The panel included box manufacturers Islem Yezza of Cascades and Jeremy Bower of Interstate Resources, along with recyclable moisture barrier coating company representatives Dave Grillo from the Chemol Company and Stefan Richwine from Spectra-Kote. Clips of comments from the assembled members are included by Clark Seydel of the Seydel Companies, and Chuck Klass of Klass Associates. Earlier speakers included Sara Hartwell of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Edmund Miller of the U.S. Department of Defense, Chris Weiss of the DC Environmental Network, Mary Lynn Wilhere of the DC Department of the Environment and Taste of Washington, and Hiroki Nanko of Taizen. 

Click Here to watch the Discussion Panel Video (Duration 7:45 min)  

You find below my talk entitled: "Recyclable coated paper for Food service Packaging":

 

Recyclable Coated Paper for Food Service Packaging from Islem Yezza

Chuck Klass of Klass Associates Inc, shared with us latest trends in OCC supply and demand: 1) Prices will continue to escalate; 2) Recyclable barrier coatings replacing waxing can increase supply but are not a long term answer to the shortage 3) Recycling mills may need to utilize alternative sources of recycled fiber 4) Installing a parallel system to process the “side stream” can make economic sense. 

Click Here to watch Chuck Klass Presentation (Duration 27:30 min) 

Hiroki Nanko of Georgia describes machinery, equipment, and processing used in an exciting new processing line that separates plastic laminated films from carton and cup stock fibers such that they can be recycled in conventional recycled paper and linerboard mills. 

Click Here to watch Hiroki Nanko Presentation (Duration 8:20 min) 

Emballage : les géants imposent les règles

Si une industrie peut souffrir du qualificatif non-environnemental, c’est bien celle de l’emballage. Les temps changent cependant et de plus en plus, elle entame un tournant vert. Tendance imposée par les demandes des consommateurs et aussi des géants comme WalMart.

L’industrie de l’emballage au Québec : ce sont des milliers d’emplois, une concurrence féroce entre des PME et de grandes entreprises comme Alcan et Cascades, le tout doté d’un dynamisme certain. Elles sont présentes à toutes les étapes de création d’un emballage. « C’est un secteur industriel qui est de façon générale en bonne santé », souligne Denis Darche, président de la section québécoise de l’Association canadienne de l’emballage (ACE).

De la production de la matière première (carton, papier, aluminium), aux produits finis, à l’impression et à la livraison. Là où le consommateur ne voit que l’emballage et le gaspillage qui en résulte, la réalité est tout autre, car si autant d’entreprises se partagent ce marché c’est parce que l’emballage répond à plusieurs besoins.

« L’emballage protège ce qu’il vend et vend ce qu’il protège. Il garantit la santé et la sécurité des consommateurs. Sans l’emballage, plus d’un tiers des aliments seraient gaspillés ou perdus. Il constitue un support d’information et de communication », mentionne Islem Yezza, directeur technique Cascades groupe produits spécialisés.

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Innovation : Une stratégie bâtie sur mesure

Il y’a quelques mois j’étais invité par, Isabelle Bérubé, Directrice de la publication, magazine PREMIUM pour commenter l’excellent article : Managing Your Innovation Portfolio,  rédigé par Bansi Nagji et Geoff Tuff et publié dans le Harvard Business Review.

Le numéro estival, en kiosque dès le 31 mai, sera consacré à l’innovation.

Voici un avant-gout de mes commentaires :

Au cours des dernières décennies, l’innovation est devenue une priorité stratégique pour les entreprises évoluant dans un environnement incertain aux contours mouvants et aux caractéristiques volatiles. Pourtant, peu de sociétés parviennent vraiment à innover. L’innovation ne se décrète pas, elle se pense, se planifie, se gère et se mesure.

Les entreprises n’innovent plus uniquement par le développement de nouveaux produits. Elles le font également en élaborant de nouvelles méthodes de gestion, de nouveaux modèles de commercialisation, de nouvelles approches de production et des façons originales d’aborder la création de valeur. Nous sommes passés d’une innovation largement tirée en avant par la technologie à des modèles d’affaires sophistiqués tenant mieux compte des besoins et des attentes des consommateurs actuels et potentiels, ainsi que de leur versatilité.

L'innovation réussie est d'abord une aventure humaine et collective. Ouverture, curiosité, créativité, confiance, écoute, audace font plus pour la capacité d’une entreprise à innover que la compétence technique. Insufflé par le dirigeant, l’esprit d’innovation va générer des opportunités improbables, la collaboration avec des partenaires compétents va réduire les coûts de développement, l’écoute du client va favoriser la commercialisation du produit, et l’innovation sera un succès et non plus une charge qui plombe le bilan de l’entreprise.

Lire la suite…

Premier bookzine québécois, PREMIUM est un véritable document de référence. Vous puiserez dans chaque numéro de PREMIUM une sélection des meilleurs textes de fond tirés de publications d'affaires mondiales hautement réputées, un texte signé par un dirigeant québécois, la synthèse d'un livre d'affaires incontournable ainsi qu'une foule d'autres sujets qui vous aideront à prendre de meilleures décisions, à raffiner votre vision et à élaborer vos stratégies d'affaires.

Convenience Food Packaging Changed Our Lives

Recloseable packaging and microwaveable plastic trays were named top packaging breakthroughs that most impacted peoples’ lives over the last 25 years in an on-line survey hosted by DuPont. Together the two categories of invention captured 48 percent of the votes. The online survey was available to industry professionals from April 9 through May 10, 2013.

Reclosable packaging, which includes food-storage zipper locks and stand-up pouches, earned 27 percent of the votes. Microwaveable meals, enabled by “oven-able” packaging materials, captured 21 percent of the votes. Recycled content in consumer, industrial and community programs that support social goals earned 18 percent of the votes.

“Over the 25 years, the DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation has attracted a wide variety of truly innovative packaging developments, making this anniversary event the perfect time to honor those past achievements,” said Shanna Moore, leader/of the DuPont Packaging Awards program. “In reflecting back on these breakthroughs, it’s hard to imagine what everyday life would be like today without them.”

DuPont created the voting project after reviewing hundreds of past winners and identifying six breakthrough groups that impacted our lives. Descriptions of those breakthroughs – which range from packaging that has enabled our current “on-the-go” lifestyle to centralized processing and packaging of meat that reduced waste and kept meat fresh longer – can be found on line here.

DuPont announced the breakthroughs that most transformed our lives during the company’s celebration of the winners of the 25th DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation in Wilmington, Del. Nearly 300 people voted on the breakthrough choices.

Read more…