Polystyrene producer Americas Styrenics announced a goal of having 25% recycled content in foodservice and food packaging products by 2030.

An integrated polystyrene and styrene monomer producer, Americas Styrenics (AmSty) said chemical recycling technologies will be key to helping it achieve its goal. In a press release, the company pointed to Regenyx, its joint venture formed in 2019 with pyrolysis company Agilyx.

The Regenyx facility is located in Tigard, Ore. AmSty has also partnered with virgin plastics company Ineos Styrolution to build a facility in Channahon, Ill. capable of processing 100 tons of PS per day into styrene monomers. Engineering design for the facility, which is in the greater Chicago area, is underway.

Based in The Woodlands, Texas, AmSty is, itself, a joint venture owned by Chevron Phillips Chemical and Trinseo.

Any marketing expert will tell you that regardless of how good your product’s quality is compared to your competitors, it will never sell unless it’s in an equally pleasing packaging. The importance of appealing and convenient packaging solutions can never be underestimated. But for a majority of small-sized products, finding the right kind of packaging isn’t as big of an issue. 

KM Packaging offers mono polymer lidding films for all food tray types including PP, Alufoil, CPET and APET. Particularly relevant to the meat, poultry, fish and seafood markets, the company offers weld seal mono-material lidding films within our K SEAL range. These have an all-polyester structure and are available with a high-oxygen barrier. They offer exceptional transparency, with excellent anti-fogging properties, and weld seals to rPET or APET trays. It's a sustainable material choice for food manufacturers thanks to the entire single polymer pack being designed for recycling in the PET recycling stream. "Many manufacturers within the meat and fish industry face the problem of 'How can we move to more mono-material solutions to avoid putting multi-layer trays and films with different plastics combined into the market?’ The sustainability of packaging solutions to protect, present, and preserve foodstuffs is a key consideration," said Charles Smithson, managing director of KM Packaging. "Our product enables them to switch from ‘hard-to-recycle’ mixed polymer plastics, for example a PET/PE food tray, to a mono-polymer food tray with the same mono-polymer top film to seal to it." Many tray manufacturers are also responding to the demand to move away from multi-layer and laminated materials for food packaging due to the difficulties of separating them for recycling. These mono-material initiatives are also aligned to the “5 steps to Build a Circular Economy for Flexible Packaging”, as defined by CEFLEX.

The Leuphana University of Lüneburg and the Nordakademie, University of Applied Sciences, have investigated consumer decision-making within their research work on consumer behaviour. In fact, consumers can be manipulated by having the “Nutri-Score” food traffic light on the packaging. The research tested in detail the role of different packaging features. According to Prof. Dr. Stefan Schaltegger, chairman for sustainability management at the Leuphana University of Lüneburg, the experiment was used to find out which representations on food packaging help to implement personal preferences for healthier and more sustainable eating.

“Nudges” as “boosters The researchers have concluded that even small “nudges” – such as the Nutri Score – work and people who are very concerned about sustainability already react to them and decide to choose the healthier variety more often. By contrast, people who like to eat unheatlhier disregard this information. In research round about 500 test candidates were tested. The nudging concept, which originates from the economist Richard H. Thaler and the lawyer Cass Sunstein, was the starting point for this study. The main question is how to consolidate behaviour without prohibition or economic incentives. Despite the statement by Dr. Holger Petersen, Professor of Business Administration with a focus on sustainability management, that only little has changed, sustainability- and health-oriented consumers can be supported with a revised design of food packaging. Currently, the Nutri Score can already be found on individual foods in France and Germany. The Nutri Score is only yet a recommendation from the government and is not a mandatory statement.

No food manufacturer is obliged to label their products with the Nutri-Score. NOVEXX Solutions offers a wide range of labelling systems for the precise and reliable placement of self-adhesive labels of any productshape or surface. Especially our XLS labelers are particularly suitable for use in the food industry. A wide range of applicator variants for all requirements and surfaces, extremely robust and designed for continuous use. For more information on labelers please click here or contact us via the contact formular.

NOVEXX Solutions offers a wide range of labelling systems for the precise and reliable placement of self-adhesive labels of any productshape or surface. Especially our XLS labelers are particularly suitable for use in the food industry. A wide range of applicator variants for all requirements and surfaces, extremely robust and designed for continuous use.

For more information on labelers please click here or contact us via the contact formular.

With each passing year, social media platforms become an increasingly popular choice for promoting businesses, establishing brands and marketing products. Along with advancements in design capabilities, in terms of both performance and visual appeal, the easy and almost free access to reach over millions of users (and customers) across multiple apps makes for a competitive market.

However, if tread on strategically, this route leads to endless opportunities. Following are a few popular social media trends to consider for your company or brand in 2020:

The proprietary SEAWELL™ active packaging system features integrated technology that absorbs excess liquids that would otherwise accumulate around the seafood, causing potential product breakdown and negatively impacting shelf life. It utilizes a proprietary blend of direct food-contact-safe absorbent materials that trap excess fluids inside patented pockets or wells, which are integrated into the packaging and hidden by the seafood product. This innovative technology and packaging design separates the seafood from excess liquids, reducing the rate of microbial growth and chemical degradation. The SEAWELL™ system improves freshness and visual appeal, absorbs odors, and enhances safety by reducing overall bacteria count and mitigating cross-contamination in the kitchen. In fact, in a challenge study on scallops, the SEAWELL™ active packaging system provided a 3 log (99.9%) reduction in aerobic bacteria through day 13. The company’s current launch partner indicated that: “The innovative packaging system has reduced shrink and improved sales in the category compared to the previous packaging solution.” Available in a variety of sizes, the SEAWELL™ system offers sea-to-table protection for both fresh and frozen seafood. The technology also enables seafood processors to pack frozen for distribution and thaw in the same package for fresh sale to market. This provides both consumers and industrial kitchens with an optimal seafood experience and a pristine case-to-cook product. It enables seafood processors to expand their geographic reach as well as help solve the challenges home delivery and grocery markets face as they rapidly expand their customer base and strive to meet increasing demands for delivering the freshest seafood possible. “For years, the industry has sought measures to improve the freshness and shelf life of shipped seafood, as well as ways to improve consumers’ experiences,” said Neal Watson, Vice President & General Manager for Aptar Food + Beverage – Food Protection. “SEAWELL™ helps solve the challenges seafood distributors face. We are excited to be partnering with major industry players to expand the use of SEAWELL™ packaging to provide a safer, more reliable option for increasing seafood consumption across the globe.”

Mondi, a leading global packaging and paper manufacturer, has collaborated with BIOhof Kirchweidach, an organic farm in Bavaria, to design a sustainable packaging solution for 500g packs of tomatoes on the vine to be distributed to PENNY supermarkets, owned by major German retailer REWE Group.

Coral Tray fulfils BIOhof’s objective of replacing its previous packaging, which used 2.5 g of plastic film per pack, with a recyclable and plastic-free solution, supporting REWE Group’s sustainability goals. It’s called ‘Coral Tray’ because of its resemblance to undersea coral and contribution to reducing plastic waste, potentially helping to protect marine life. This innovative new packaging is fully recyclable and made of renewable material and recycled corrugated board, which has an average recycling rate of over 80% in Europe.

Packaging experts at Mondi Grünburg in Austria worked with BIOhof’s team to design the one-piece corrugated tray with integrated lid made of lightweight F-Flute. Both the fluting and outer liner are made of 100% recycled material and the KraftTop inner liner ensures it meets food contact requirements. The new solution can be mechanised for up to six different package sizes and gives BIOhof the option of using it for other small organic produce.

The retailer said that in-season Irish New Season Roosters and Kerr Pinks are now available in paper potato bags that can be disposed of in either the green or brown bins found in most homes and businesses.

Plastic netting has been removed from bags and replaced with cotton netting to ensure 100% of packaging can be recycled or composted.

Over 13,500 tonnes of potatoes are sold in SuperValu every year.

Ray Kelly, interim managing director, SuperValu, said: "Removing unnecessary plastic from our own-brand packaging is a priority for us and by 2025 100% of SuperValu own-brand, fresh produce and in-store packaging will be recyclable, reusable or compostable."

"The move to compostable and recyclable packaging on six lines of potatoes is another significant step towards that goal. So far, these changes have stopped 380Kg of plastic going to the landfill annually, a positive move that will impact communities around Ireland,” he added.

In 2019 84 tonnes of black unrecyclable plastic was removed from produce packaging by moving to loose produce, cardboard or recyclable plastic as part of SuperValu’s sustainable packaging strategy to make 100% of its own Brand and fresh fruit and vegetable packaging recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025.

For this reason, Kühlmann’s ready-to-eat bulgur salad is no longer sealed with a conventional tray lid but with a hygienic, resealable Multipeel xPET film from SÜDPACK. This means less material consumption and reduced weight – without sacrificing freshness or convenience. After the salad is eaten, the consumer can easily separate the individual components of the packaging – container, film, and cardboard – and dispose of them in the appropriate recycling streams.

The packaging consists of a flavourless biofilm, which is made from only a handful of readily-available ingredients including potato starch, glycerin and water. "I was able to do all the testing and manufacture in my kitchen as the process is very simple," explained Grounds. She was motivated by the many long days and nights she spent studying, which were fuelled by packets of instant ramen often containing "more plastic than noodle". Once it has been heat sealed, the film keeps the dry noodles from going stale. But as soon as it comes into contact with boiling water it dissolves in less than a minute. With herbs and flavourings embedded into the packaging the resulting liquid effectively acts as the sauce, while ingredients such as dried shrimp are stored loosely in the packs before being released into the broth. "The film ingredients are blended and heated until the mixture is at the right thickness. At this point, I add the spices and flavourings before pouring it into a mould to set for 24 hours." The resulting film is then wrapped around the dried noodle blocks, which are made into doughnut shapes to allow them to cook more evenly and fit more easily into a bowl. For hygiene purposes, the filled wrappers are stored in a wax-coated paper sleeve. (This may detract a bit from the greener credentials of the dissolvable plastic we think: AIPIA). Her dissolvable wrapper was conceived as an alternative to the mountain of single-use plastic, as well as its bioplastic substitutes, which she says often fall short of their promises. "While other bio-based alternatives to plastic claim to be compostable or biodegradable, from a consumer perspective, it's not always that simple," Grounds told Dezeen, a leading design magazine. "Many of the emerging bio-based films only break down in an industrial composter at 50?C, so they often end up in the wrong place without the consumer really knowing that they caused damage to the planet,” she said. "The issue is that the world is not only confronting a rapidly growing mountain of plastic but also an even greater mountain of apathy. That's why it was important to me to make the convenient choice the sustainable one. If the quick option for meals or snacks is eco-friendly, consumers can help the planet perhaps without even knowing." AIPIA says: Well it may not be anywhere near commercial level yet. But it is most certainly a Smart piece of packaging and we’d love to try it!