Cerealus Introduces Safer, More Sustainable Food Packaging

For years the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has been investigating perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a synthetic chemical used as a coating to make food packaging like sandwich wrappers and popcorn bags resistant to grease.

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Major PFOA manufacturers have agreed to eliminate the chemical by 2015, and a company in Maine has already developed an alternative to PFOA, recently releasing it for packaging makers to test.

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Materials developer Cerealus has spent about a year and a half on its PFOA replacement, Holdout, a coating additive based on corn protein, a byproduct typically used as animal feed.
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Lidl : des milliers de paquets de céréales retirés de la vente

Des milliers de paquets de muesli ont été retirés en février des rayons des 1.400 magasins Lidl de France, suite à la contamination de ces céréales par une composante toxique utilisée dans l'encre des emballages.

Des muesli au chocolat et aux fruits. Voilà les deux produits concernés par la contamination. "Nous avons été informés le 6 février par notre maison mère qu'il fallait retirer de la vente deux références (…). Les marchandises ont été retirées le 9 février", a déclaré Jérôme Gresland, directeur des achats de Lidl pour la France, confirmant une information du Canard enchaîné.

Le signalement de la maison mère était consécutif à une alerte du système d'alerte européen pour les denrées alimentaires (RASFF), après qu'un contrôle sanitaire eut mis en évidence en Allemagne la présence de 4-méthyl benzophénone (4-MBP) dans des céréales, a précisé M. Gresland.

L'Autorité européenne pour la santé des aliments (EFSA) a fait savoir le 4 mars que "la consommation régulière de produits fortement contaminés" par la molécule incriminée pouvait présenter "dans des cas extrêmes un risque pour certains enfants". La branche française de Lidl a décidé de son propre chef de retirer les produits de ses rayons, "par précaution", a souligné M. Gresland.

"A aucun moment la Direction générale de la concurrence, de la consommation, et de la répression des fraudes (DGCCRF) ne nous a demandé de procéder à un rappel des produits" déjà vendus, a-t-il dit.

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Campbell’s wants your packaging ideas!

Campbell Soup Company is inviting scientists, entrepreneurs and inventors to submit their ideas via a new Web site called “Campbell’s Ideas for Innovation.” The site, which can be accessed at http://www.campbellideas.com/, has been established to provide an easy way for people to submit their innovative ideas to Campbell for evaluation.

Campbell is focused on generating ideas in the areas of new products, packaging innovation, product line extensions, environmental sustainability, business processes and marketing. The company also is interested in new technologies related to sodium reduction, vegetable nutrition and healthier fats and oils.

Carl Johnson, Campbell’s Chief Strategy Officer, said, “Campbell has had a solid track record for innovation in the categories in which we compete: soup and simple meals, baked snacks and healthy beverages. We are committed to improving our innovation results, and a key element in this improvement requires us to be open to ideas from both inside and outside the company. The Ideas for Innovation Web site is one of the ways we are accessing innovation from outside sources.”

The Ideas for Innovation Web site is designed to provide an effective way for Campbell to review and evaluate unsolicited ideas by offering people who do not work for the company an easy way to submit ideas.

Ideas submitted to Campbell through the Ideas for Innovation program will be evaluated by a team assembled for this purpose. Ideas will be reviewed and evaluated by someone with direct knowledge of the relevant business or function and who will determine whether there is an interest in pursuing the idea.

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Smart Packaging: Intelligent paper

Last year’s listeriosis outbreak killed almost two dozen people and raised difficult questions about Canada’s food safety system. The incident, and others like it, has led U of T researchers to pose an intriguing scientific query: Can such disasters be averted with “smart” packaging that warns consumers when a food product has gone bad?

This is exactly what Ramin Farnood, a chemical engineering professor, and PhD student Peter Angelo are investigating in a project backed by Canada’s Sentinel Bioactive Paper Network and the University of Toronto’s Pulp and Paper Centre.

The core of Angelo and Farnood’s invention is a specially coated paper that glows when an electrical charge is applied to it. In their U of T lab, they layer special inks, conductive polymer film and electro-luminescent coatings on to conventional paper. These coatings essentially transform a non-conductive surface – in this case, paper – into a luminescent display.

Engineers have used similar technology to create conductive plastic films that provide the back lighting in cellphone displays and digital watches. The trick with paper is that you need to alter the surface structure of the paper and formulate special inks in order to create a functioning device. Farnood and Angelo apply these inks using a conventional electronic printer to make letters and shapes that glow when a charge is supplied, either by “plugging in” the paper or attaching it to a battery. Eventually, they hope to incorporate an ultra-thin battery right into the paper.
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According to Farnood, such paper could also be coated with substances that react when exposed to certain pathogens or chemicals. The reaction would act as a switch to turn on the luminescent message printed on the paper’s surface. The message might warn consumers that the food is contaminated.
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Farnood also envisions putting a paper-based biosensor in safety or construction masks. The masks will then be able to warn the wearer if he or she is being exposed to a harmful substance.

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Because this technology is paper-based, it’s renewable, biodegradable and sufficiently flexible to use in the myriad forms of packaging found in a supermarket. If Farnood and Angelo are able to refine their invention, that familiar “Best Before” stamp may soon be past its expiry date.

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Nouvelles emballantes de la semaine

«L’eau en bouteille? Un triple scandale»

L’eau en bouteille, l’eau en PET tout particulièrement, représente un triple scandale. Un scandale écologique d’abord, puisque du fait de son emballage et de son transport sa consommation suppose une dépense d’énergie mille fois plus importante que celle de l’eau du robinet. Et ce sans présenter le moindre avantage comparatif, ni en termes gustatifs, ni en termes sanitaires. Un scandale publicitaire ensuite, puisque les mensonges les plus grossiers sont émis pour vendre ce produit. Un scandale politique enfin, parce que les pouvoirs publics restent totalement inertes devant le problème et ne prennent même pas la peine de répondre aux attaques proférées contre l’eau du robinet qu’ils gèrent eux-mêmes.

Le «bon et bio» se refait une beauté

Aujourd'hui, pour séduire le gourmet sensible au discours bio mais pas forcément militant, il faut d'abord «l'emballer». Avec un contenant chic et attrayant de préférence. Car on veut bien craquer pour une alimentation bio et équitable, à condition qu'elle soit désirable et goûteuse. Heureusement, on note quelques efforts en épicerie fine.
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Tesco tells shoppers: too much packaging? Leave it with us

Tesco is to encourage customers to discard unwanted and excessive packaging near the tills, in an experiment along the lines of a similar "take-back" scheme in Germany. The supermarket chain has already cut back on what it regards as "wasteful" packaging, such as bulky dog food bags and unnecessary plastic wrapping on food. A regional trial will now try to find out which kinds of packaging consumers are prepared to do without.

World’s first certified compostable net bag


Giró launches worldwide first certified complete compostable net bag. The new net packaging system developed by Giró comprises 100 % compostable materials certified according to EN 13432 for net and etiquette.

LCA study puts bag-in-box in good light

Via Food Production Daily

A life cycle assessment (LCA) of the bag-in-box packaging format underlines its strong environmental credentials and endorses it as an alternative to conventional packaging formats for wine and liquid foods, claims a European supplier of this type of packaging

Rapak said that it recently commissioned sustainability consultants PIRA to compile an independent report with the specific aim of assessing and comparing the potential life cycle environmental impacts of bag-in-box technology with alternative liquid packaging formats.

Material weight

The study, claims the company, compared 30 different packaging formats over the range of market categories and considered the weight of packaging raw materials as key in terms of impact on distribution.

“As a responsible packaging producer, we need to be aware of and reduce the environmental impact of our products,” said Jean Paul Roosendaal, sales and marketing director for the company.

The LCA technique incorporates the different stages of a product’s life cycle to assess how ‘green’ a product or packaging material is, including raw material extraction, manufacture, transport and usage through to waste processing and disposal.

An inventory is made of each stage in terms of energy and material consumption as well as emissions released into the environment, to determine a packaging material or product’s carbon footprint.

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Informed decisions

“The PIRA report’s conclusion that bag-in-box systems were ‘environmentally competitive’ and in many cases superior to alternative packaging formats in the categories considered has qualified what has long been felt about this packaging medium,” added Roosendaal.

However, he stressed that the purpose of the LCA was not to prove that one packaging format was better than another - “there are too many variable factors for any pack realistically to be able to take that position,” conceded Roosendaal.

But he said that such a study allows its customers to make informed decisions in the selection of packaging for their particular products, adding environmental considerations alongside factors such as packaging performance and consumer requirements.

According to Rapak, the bag-in-box format generates up to five times less waste than rigid containers, thanks to the fact that empty packs collapse fully to reduce space during disposal and, in addition, the cardboard outer is fully recyclable.

Developments

Rapak added that it was continuing to look at developing bag-in-box materials to offer to food and beverage companies for use across the retail and service industry, with water an increasingly important area.

In this continued push for use of the format with waters, the group said it is targeting specific markets such as Northern European, where it says such products are already widely available in five and ten litre sizes.

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Réduire les emballages, une priorité pour une consommation durable

Une majorité de français (60%) considèrent que les enseignes de la distribution ont un rôle très important à jouer dans la protection de l'environnement et que la réduction des emballages est une priorité, selon un sondage publié jeudi.

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Parmi les actions prioritaires pour développer une consommation durable, ils citent la réduction des emballages (79%), les produits recyclables (78%), la suppression des sacs plastiques aux caisses (51%), l'étiquetage énergétique (50%) ou encore les produits régionaux (41%), selon ce sondage réalisé pour la Fédération des entreprises du commerce et de la distribution (FCD) à l'occasion de la Semaine du développement durable dont la 7è édition se tient du 1er au 7 avril.

Pour 94% des personnes interrogées, avoir une consommation durable est "très important" (45%) ou "plutôt important" (49%).

Sondage Opinon Way réalisé du 20 au 23 mars auprès d'un échantillon de 1.061 personnes représentatif de la population française âgée de 18 ans et plus (interrogation en ligne).

(AFP / 26 mars 2009 15h56)

Télécharger les documents joints :

1. Sondage OpinionWay FCD Consommation durable.pdf
2. Dossier de presse.pdf
3. Communiqué de presse.pdf

US demand for green packaging to approach $45 billion in 2013

According to a new study from The Freedonia Group, U.S. demand for green packaging—comprised of recycled content, and biodegradable and reusable packaging—is projected to increase 3.4% annually to $43.9 billion in 2013, using 59 billion lb of material.

Advances for green packaging will be driven by the increased prominence of environmental issues as a result of elevated raw material and fuel costs in the past several years. This has resulted in heightened activity among product manufacturers to make their products and related packaging more environmentally
friendly.

Much of the increased activity in green packaging has been driven by Wal-Mart, which unveiled its Packaging Scorecard in November 2006. The scorecard was implemented in February 2008 and is used by Wal-Mart to evaluate the packaging used by suppliers in terms of its eco-friendliness, including factors that reduce waste as well as packaging and transportation costs.

Fastest gains anticipated for biodegradable plastic, recycled content packaging

The fastest gains are anticipated for biodegradable plastic packaging and plastic recycled content packaging. Growth for biodegradable plastic packaging will be driven by price competitiveness with conventional resins, rapidly expanding capacity and lower pricing volatility than petroleum-based plastic packaging materials. Preventing faster advances will be performance drawbacks, capacity limitations and the lack of consumer composting networks in most areas of the US. The fastest growing biodegradable packaging segments will be cups, plates and bowls; and containers.

Robust growth for plastic recycled content packaging will be aided by more concerted efforts to boost collection volume, an increased focus on the development of food-contact approved resin grades, and further sustainability initiatives by plastic processors and brand owners.

Glass recycled content packaging demand will increase at an above-average pace, reflecting industry efforts to boost recycling rates and incorporate higher levels of recycled content in glass containers.

Reusable packaging is forecast to expand more slowly, resulting from marginal growth for drums based on competition from larger formats such as intermediate bulk containers.

Foodservice, shipping to be fastest growing markets

The largest markets for green packaging are food, consumer products and beverages, which together represented twothirds of total green packaging demand in 2008. However, the fastest growing markets through 2013 will be the foodservice and shipping markets.

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Eco-Fina Bottle™: the Lightest Weight Bottle in the Market

Half-Liter Package Uses 50 Percent Less Plastic, Saving an Estimated 75 million Pounds of Plastic Annually

At a weight of just 10.9 grams, the Eco-Fina Bottle is made with 50 percent less plastic than the half-liter Aquafina bottles produced in 2002, eliminating an estimated 75 million pounds of plastic annually. In addition to light weighting the half-liter bottle, Aquafina is driving additional environmental benefits by producing the Eco-Fina Bottle right at Aquafina purification centers where filling occurs and by eliminating cardboard base pads from Eco-Fina Bottle 24-packs, which will contribute to saving 20 million pounds of corrugate by 2010.

Press Release

Oxo-Biodegradability and Biodegradability

Deux documents récents à partager avec vous…

Le premier publié dans Bioplastics Magazine (01-09, Vol.4). Il s’agit d’une revue sur les plastiques biodégradables : Sorting Through Facts and Claims.

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Biodegradability is an end-of-life option for single use disposable, packaging, and consumer plastics that harnesses microbes to completely utilize the carbon substrate and remove it from the environmental compartment – entering into the microbial food chain.

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Le second, publié par le Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI). Il s’agit d’un condensé des commentaires du BPI concernant les additifs biodégradables utilisés pour accélérer la « biodégradation » des plastiques pétrochimiques : Background on Biodegradable Additives.

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Testing has shown that in arid climates with sunlight and high heat, oxo-biodegradable additives will accelerate the fragmentation of traditional polymers. Data has shown that fragmentation can be achieved in 2 to 3 months. However, fragmentation is not a sign of Biodegradation and there is no data to show how long these plastic fragments will persist in the soils or marine environments. Further, data has shown that moisture will retard this fragmentation process for months or longer.

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