Overview: News
Image: Juha Hakulinen, VTT Technical Research Center of Finland
VTT PILOTS CELLULOSE AS ALTERNATIVE TO RIGID POLYPROPYLENE PACKAGING
30.11.2023
Researchers at the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland have developed formable, cellulose-based webs that they say offer a sustainable alternative to plastic in rigid polypropylene in food packaging applications.
Image: BASF
Women in packaging: Mia Pettersson – helping take compostable bioplastics to the next level
14.11.2023
BASF has been active in the bioplastics field for more than 30 years. Swedish chemical engineer Mia Pettersson is head of BASF’s biopolymer portfolio in Ludwigshafen, Germany, where she works on continuing to develop compostable and biodegradable plastics while supporting women in their advancement in the company.
Image: Aldi Süd Gruppe
Final testing stage for HolyGrail 2.0
14.11.2023
Digital watermarks could play a key role in the future when it comes to packaging recyclability. They are invisible to the human eye but carry a wealth of information. The HolyGrail 2.0 initiative aims to implement the technology for large-scale sorting of post-consumer waste, with plans for a test market in France in 2024. The final stage of testing has now begun.
Image: Siegwerk Druckfarben
How coloured foil bags become colourless granules
11.10.2023
Colourful plastic packaging sells well. However, the printing colour also prevents the packaging from being recycled in the form of transparent granules. Now there is a solution that completely removes printing colours and barrier coatings from foil bags. Afterwards, the packaging can be recycled to almost colourless granules.
Bild: Checkpoint Systems
Keeping an eye on reusable containers
11.10.2023
Since the beginning of 2023, reusable containers are mandatory in restaurants. For the proprietors, it is often not easy to keep track of stock levels and the necessary order quantities for resupply. This is where RFID systems can be useful, as they help to record each single container quickly and without contact. McDonald’s France is already using this technology for its reusable packaging.
Image: BASF
What are the environmental impacts of alternative raw materials?
12.09.2023
In mass balancing, chemically recycled or bio-based raw materials are input at the very beginning of plastics production and then computationally assigned to the end products. Using the example of flexible mozzarella packaging, a study investigated whether and how this procedure influences the life-cycle assessment of packaging produced from these raw materials.
Image: Adobe stock/Suttiphong
What does artificial intelligence have to offer in the field of packaging design?
10.08.2023
AI systems have played a role in our everyday lives for a long time now and have become an integral part of the industrial sector. Whether used in manufacturing, logistics or quality control, they complete many tasks more quickly than humans. But what does artificial intelligence have to offer in the creative sphere?
Image: PulPac
Eurostars project for fibre-based packaging concluded
11.07.2023
As part of the Eurostars funding programme, PulPac in Sweden and the Bio-Lutions start-up in Germany have together developed a prototype for a new dry-moulded-fibre machine that’s able to process fibres from agricultural waste. The project saw them adapting standard components that are traditionally used to make plastic products.
Image: Rotzinger
Wireless automation
11.07.2023
Manufacturing increasingly requires automated solutions that intelligently network components within plants. Rotzinger is therefore now using CoreTigo's wireless IO-link technology in its new machine for packaging food. The technology is being employedfor wireless control of grippers on a rail system as they move through the plant performing tasks.
Image: BASF
Compostable coating for food-safe paper packaging
13.06.2023
Barrier properties are particularly important to food packaging. Consumers are additionally demanding solutions that are environmentally friendly. BASF has developed an extrusion coating for paper and cardboard packaging, which may be composted both industrially and domestically.