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interpack Magazine

Stemming the tide on ocean-bound plastic
The NextWave consortium has diverted over 20,000 metric tons of ocean-bound plastic—equivalent to 2.27 billion single-use water bottles. And SABIC, meanwhile, says Italian food-packaging innovator B!POD is using its OBP-based polypropylene in its latest range of food-preserving vacuum-packed containers.
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SAVE FOOD and SUSTAINABILITY Design Awards for sustainable packaging solutions
This year's SAVE FOOD Design and SUSTAINABILITY Design Awards were presented at the Shanghai World of Packaging in November 2024. The awards recognise innovative packaging solutions along the value chain with a positive environmental impact. The companies honoured are: United Caps (Malaysia), Koch Pac-Systeme (Germany), UBIS (Spain) and Multivac (China).
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Think globally, act locally: a conversation with Nerida Kelton, WPO
The biggest challenge for packaging technology is to find a balance between functionality, economic aspects, consumer requirements and environmental criteria. "Inappropriate packaging is one of the main causes of food waste and is responsible for negative environmental impacts", explains Nerida Kelton, World Packaging Organisation (WPO).
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Trends and developments in the pet food market
More and more, dogs and cats are considered as members of the family. The demands of pet owners in terms of nutrition are increasing accordingly. The pet food industry is reacting and promoting healthy products with functional ingredients and new dosage forms. The use of insect proteins could become a trend. Many pet food manufacturers are also switching to more sustainable, recyclable packaging.
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Foreign object detection and food safety – in search of the blue glove
Sometimes large quantities of edible food are disposed of for safety reasons, even though only a single product may be contaminated. To avoid this, manufacturers rely on detection systems that recognise foreign objects. Systems specialist Sesotec recommends combinations of sieves, magnets, metal detectors and X-ray systems for this purpose, and thus contributes to the reduction of food waste.
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Uhlmann Group: EU packaging regulations accelerate pace of transformation
Less packaging waste, more recycling and increased use of sustainable materials – these are the goals of the EU packaging regulations PPWR which will soon be implemented. For this, the packaging industry has already begun full-scale preparations. For example, the Uhlmann Group from Swabia – in the centre of a region that is one of the world's most important hubs for the packaging industry.
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Pact group & partners creating circular solution for pret tray-to-tray recycling
Australia’s meat eaters create a lot of waste with their PET meat trays. But thermoformed PET food packaging is very recyclable, with the right infrastructure in place. So Pact Group is working with Hilton Foods, Woolworths Group and Cleanaway Waste Management to close the loop on this by collecting, sorting and cleaning these PET materials, and remanufacturing them into more food packaging.
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Sustainable plastics on the rise
Consumers’ growing environmental consciousness leads to added pressure on the packaging industry to develop sustainable solutions. In this context, sustainability is not limited to bio-based or bio-degradable materials. Conventional fossil-based plastics can also be part of sustainable strategies – if they are designed for recyclability or produced using recycled raw materials.
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The role of adhesives in optimising packaging processes
Adhesives are the invisible backbone of the packaging industry – without them, cardboard, films and other packaging materials could not be held together. Particularly in the food industry, adhesives are crucial for product safety and shelf life. Following the trend towards sustainable packaging, the demand for innovative adhesive solutions like those offered by the Bühnen company is rising.
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AIMPLAS Working to Develop Valuable Packaging Applications From Fish-Processing Waste
AIMPLAS, a Valencia, Spain-based research and technology center, is participating in a European project designed to develop an eco-friendly barrier coating for food packaging from fish gelatin as well as cosmetics packaging from waste fishing nets.
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Woodly – made of wood, looks like plastic
Wood-based substitute material for plastic offers the food industry new sustainable options. Finnish start-up and SAVE FOOD member Woodly supplies wood cellulose polymers for various packaging solutions and products such as reusable cups. The carbon-neutral material is particularly useful in ensuring that bread is hygienically packaged while staying fresh for a long time and looking appetising.
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Sustainable packaging film for sleeving, stretching, shrinking and sealing
Plastic film is indispensable in the packaging sector. Used as sealing film, it can seal food trays, it can enclose beverage bottles in the form of sleeves and as stretch film, it lends stability to packaging during transport. Modern packaging films are sustainable, recyclable or are made from recycled materials. With a view to the European Packaging Directive, this is indeed a boon.
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Artificial intelligence for more process quality
Artificial intelligence (AI) will play an important part in the future in optimising processes within the food industry. It can lengthen the shelf life of food by allowing precise control of temperature and humidity, for example. AI analyses huge amounts of data in real time in order to guarantee optimum recipes and storage conditions and minimise spoiling.
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More transparency for hidden price increases
Shopping for daily necessities has gotten expensive. But some products have become more expensive without a change in price – there is simply less content per package. Customers often do not notice this practice, called shrinkflation, to begin with. France and Hungary are now combatting this practice and obligating supermarkets to indicate hidden price increases.
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Natural insulation from feathers
With their microscopically small hollow fibre structure, feathers are among the lightest natural fibres ever and provide excellent heat insulation. A British start-up utilises these properties and turns feathers, a waste product from the poultry industry, into an insulating packaging material for the cold transport.
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ALDI UK using AI to provide visibility to its flexible plastic packaging efforts
Aldi UK is pioneering the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to assist in its recycling of flexible plastic packaging. The supermarket offers front-of-store collection points for such packaging and then applies technology from Greenback Recycling Technologies to track and verify the flow of material using eco2Veritas system. The project is supported by the brand-backed Flexible Plastic Fund.
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Kombucha leather – packaging from the tea lab
The packaging industry is looking for creative solutions to package food both safely and sustainably. A young team of students and researchers in Istanbul is currently working on prototypes of SCOBY, a leather-like biofilm made from fermented kombucha tea.
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Sustainable coatings for packaging papers
Food is more and more often wrapped in paper. But this natural material is porous and has next to no barrier properties against humidity, oxygen, grease or oil. Paper producers like Sappi are now coating their packaging papers sustainably using water-based barriers which do not impact later recycling. In research, a common topic is the development of bio-based barrier coating materials.
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The Refill Coalition aims to take reuse and refill mainstream
The UK-based Refill Coalition, led by the GoUnpackaged NGO, has worked with molder Berry Global and supply-chain firm CHEP to create a system designed to vastly reduce retailers’ need for single-use plastics packaging.
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Compulsive EU regulation for sustainable packaging not far away
Harmonising the rules on packaging and packaging waste within Europe is long overdue. The draft of a Europe-wide, compulsive packaging directive by the European Commission in 2022 has already passed through the different levels of legislation and could achieve final adoption in autumn. Industry representatives are both expressing approval and criticism.
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Why ‘right-sizing’ your parcel packaging is good for the planet, and the bottom line
Consumers are all but addicted to home delivery of all types of products, driving the number of parcels shipped globally from 161 billion in 2022 to an estimated 225 billion by 2028.
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A sturdy concept for the future of reusable containers?
Within the planned EU packaging regulation, quotas for reusable containers play an important part. However, reusable container collection systems are not yet widespread in Europe. This is in spite of the fact that preserves, jams, fruit gums, sauces or dried products could come in reusable packaging in addition to beverages. Pacoon now has developed a new reusable container system.
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What drives the robot market in 2024?
All over the world, more robots than ever before are in use in various industries: According to the International Federation of Robotics IFR, the number of industrial robots is currently about 3.9 million units. These run the gamut from new developments in artificial intelligence to collaborative robots for new applications and humanoid solutions.
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“We must make packaging more attractive as a varied professional field”
In a world forced to meet the global challenges of sustainable food systems, progressive packaging solutions are indispensable. This includes the people working on these solutions. In this interview with Caroline Babendererde, Head of Sustainability Mid Europe at Tetra Pak, we discuss how to win young talents for the industry and the role of sustainability initiatives.
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Paper safety labels for recycling
Products that are counterfeit or which have been tampered with cause large economic damage. Safety labels can help to guarantee the authenticity and integrity of goods, as when someone attempts to open the packaging, it leaves irreversible traces. When it comes to recyclability, however, these small labels are often not performing very well.
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