Particularly soda and water bottles of all shapes and sizes. Scientists have been looking for ways to cut down on this waste and a study for Green Chemistryshows it may now be possible. Using genetically-modified bacteria, a team at Edinburgh University in Scotland, has been able to convert PET plastic waste into vanilla flavouring. 

Previous studies have demonstrated that it is possible to break down PET into its basic subunit, known as terephthalic acid (TA). The researchers in Edinburgh discovered that E. coli bacteria can be “deployed” in order to convert TA into vanillin. Vanillin is the main component of extracted vanilla beans, and it’s responsible for vanilla’s signature taste and smell. It has a very similar chemical composition to TA, and so the engineered bacteria only needs to make minor changes to the number of hydrogens and oxygens that are bonded to the same carbon backbone.

The researchers mingled their E. coli with TA and kept them at room temperature for a day, in roughly the same conditions used for brewing beer. After process optimization, around 79% of the TA was converted to vanillin.The team believes it may be possible to increase this percentage. Also they believe that this vanillin would be fit for human consumption, but further tests are required.

Joanna Sadler, first author and BBSRC Discovery Fellow from the school of biological sciences, University of Edinburgh, said, “This is the first example of using a biological system to upcycle plastic waste into a valuable industrial chemical. It has very exciting implications for the circular economy.”

Stephen Wallace, also of the University of Edinburgh, added, “Our work challenges the perception of plastic being a problematic waste and instead demonstrates its use as a new carbon resource from which high value products can be made.”

One million PET bottles are sold every minute around the world, but just 14% are recycled. Currently the recycled ones have limited ‘second use’  opportunities, although much work is being done by the industry to ameliorate this situation. The plastics lose about 95% of their value after a single use, so the ability to upcycle into more lucrative materials could make this recycling process far more attractive and effective.

There is a shortage in supply of vanillin, which is found in a wide variety of food, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, cleaning, and herbicide products. In 2018, the global demand was about 40,000 tonnes and is expected to grow to 65,000 tonnes by 2025 which “far exceeds” the vanilla bean supply. About 85% of vanillin is currently synthesized from chemicals derived from fossil fuels – and this new experiment offers another way to do that, at a potentially viable level.

Building on consumer demand for sustainable ring carriers, the new WaveGrip cardboard carrier is lightweight, strong and easy to use, providing the same levels of pack retention as plastic. Each carrier weighs under 7g for a standard six-pack and is recyclable in all paper and board waste collection streams.

The white fully coated top side offers high quality printability in up to 10 colours, allowing brand messages and promotions to be easily included for enhanced shelf impact. In addition, the naturally brown reverse opens-up to offer a multitude of additional design possibilities and enable further direct communication with customers.

The new carrier style is available for both standard and sleek cans and unlike many competitive products, its patent pending design does not require folding and manipulation during application. This allows continuous running at high speeds, meeting both the performance and production needs of the latest beverage canning lines.

Applicators are competitively priced and range from simple, manual solutions to more integrated higher speed options. Planned developments also include the addition of an integrated advertising panel option for increased on shelf marketability.

Darryl Roadnight, Business Director at WaveGrip said: “Our new cardboard carrier meets the growing consumer demand for easy to recycle packaging and its unique design delivers both performance and sustainability that today’s brands are seeking.

“We are delighted to add this solution to the WaveGrip range and deliver even more choice in the effective, efficient and sustainable packing of beers and beverages around the world.”

Labels are not just there to make your product look the part, they are also required for communicating with your customers and informing them of vital information about your products. If you are on the lookout for new labelling machinery, or considering contract labelling for your business, you need to know the type of labels you need. There are many types of labels to choose from, and some are more suitable to certain products than others.

1. POLYESTER LABELS
Polyester labels are a common option for a range of products because they are available in various shapes and sizes. A very common option for polyester labels is to use a chrome or metalized finish, and they are well suited for luxury products which need to look the part. Polyester labels benefit from very long-lasting adhesives, and they are commonly used for labels on equipment and machinery because of this.

2. RECYCLED LABELS
If sustainability is an important part of your business, then using recycled labels in your labelling machine might be your best option. As the name suggests, recycled labels are made from 100% recycled materials. A common material for this is Kraft paper, which offers a trendy, earthy appearance. These kinds of labels are not able to be laminated, so they do not work well for products which need to be oil or water resistant.

3. WRAPROUND LABELS
For cylindrical products, such as bottles and jars, wrapround labelling is a perfect solution. These labels work with your labelling machines in order to wrap fully around your product and cover the entire cylinder. Wrapround labels are great for showcasing your products while also providing enough space on the label for necessary information. This kind of label is commonly used for food and beverages, and provides space for ingredients lists and nutritional information.

4. FOLD OUT LABELS
When your product has limited space, but you need to provide your customers with a lot of information, fold out labels might be the ideal solution. They are made from a single substrate, and then folded and stacked into an accordion effect. Fold out labels are generally used in addition to a primary label. For example, you might have a primary label on the front of your product, and then a fold out label on the back or bottom.

5. DRY PEEL LABELS
Dry peel labels are designed to be peeled away from a product in order to remove it completely. For some products, you need a label fixed to it while in store, but customers need to be able to remove this post-purchase. These labels use a temporary adhesive to hold the label in place securely, but it can also be peeled off with ease.

To find out more about label types and advanced labelling systems, speak with our team of experts today.

Going green seems to be the mantra by several brands, which are opting for sustainable packaging of their products. Consider the following: Dabur is removing outer paper cartons from its toothpaste brand Dabur Red Paste; Flipkart is working towards reducing the need for an outer layer of packaging and has eliminated all single-use plastic packaging. Further, Mondelez India has announced a grant to Hasiru Dala, an NGO that will recycle multi layered plastic (MLP) which is a prominent packaging material used by the company.

Several FMCG companies have taken sustainability pledges at a global level and shifted to sustainable packaging materials. For instance, Unilever is introducing a paper-based laundry detergent bottle in Brazil in 2022 followed by Europe and some other markets. Coca-Cola will introduce 100% recycled bottles in the US this year.

Shahrukh Khan, executive director, operations, Dabur India, says dropping the outer paper packaging for toothpaste could save 150 tonne of paper annually. Mondelez India claims that over 97% of its packaging is currently designed to be recyclable. Ophira Bhatia, director, corporate and government affairs, India and CGA Lead, AMEA, Mondelez, says the company’s recycling initiative will turn about 600 tonne of MLP waste into boards that can be used to make furniture and construction material.

One of the reasons for the initiative is consumer preference. As per a 2021 Deloitte study, the environment is a top priority for millennials and GenZ consumers.

“Sustainability has become a business necessity because studies show that the brands that don’t adopt environment-friendly practices stand to lose consumers,” says Sanjesh Thakur, partner, Deloitte India.

As per a Central Pollution Control Board report (2018-19), 3.3 million metric tonne of plastic waste is generated in India every year. There are several ways to reduce the quantity of waste generated. A company could reduce the amount of packaging material used, substitute the material with alternatives, replace inks, decentralise transportation to reduce fuel consumption or use only recyclable materials.

Reducing the amount of packaging material used is a common starting point for many. But there are challenges. Like, plastic is a versatile material with useful properties. “The issue with substitution is that all plastic cannot be replaced by paper in all situations. Another concern is cost. For instance, bio plastics cost three to seven times more than regular plastics and have functional limitations,” says Sudeep Maheshwari, principal, Kearney. He adds that the volume of such material produced in India is only 1% of all plastics produced in India. Packaging accounts for around 25% of any product cost across the entire Dabur range.

This cost and volume barrier may make sustainable substitutes unviable for mass use. “In India, sustainable materials are mostly used by brands that can charge a premium or boutique brands with a niche clientele that appreciates environment-friendly initiatives,” says Arnab Ray, creative director, Landor & Fitch.

Recycling is another area that is promising but needs community action to be successful. “Post-consumer recycling is a challenge in India because we do not segregate waste and our supply chains are not set up at scale to facilitate efficient collection of recyclable waste,” says Maheshwari.

Making bottles refillable is another way for brands to reduce their environmental footprint. This too hinges on consumers playing their part. Brands in India are working on finding ways to overcome the hurdles India’s complex market poses. “About 10% of brands that work with us are actively working on sustainable packaging, while 30% are seeking solutions and experimenting,” says Ashwini Deshpande, co-founder and director, Elephant Design.

Aiming to pivot the packaging market away from single-use plastics, Carton Service CSi, LLC specializes in manufacturing paper-based packaging for the food, beverage and medical industries. Introducing their new “Cartons 4R Earth” line, Carton Service hopes to inspire companies across many industries to utilize paper-based packaging for non-traditional items, such as liquid soaps, soap refills, dry foods like cereal, snack, crackers and confections, or semi-solid foods like potato salad and coleslaw.

The “4R” in “Carton 4R Earth” represents four “R’s” they believe to be essential to sustainability: Reducing, recycling, renewing and refilling. Given the numerous environmental dangers associated with plastic waste, Carton Service believes strongly that their paper-based packaging offers a viable alternative to the plastic options to which many of us have become accustomed.

Their main goal in introducing the “Cartons 4R Earth” line is to target companies that wish to minimize their plastic packaging, but have not yet been able to find a worthy alternative to plastic methods. Broadening the types, sizes and designs of various gable top containers, Carton Service is confident that many of the companies they serve can transition into 100% paper-based packaging maintaining packaging performance and financial feasibility.
Since traditional gable top containers may not always be the best shape for every product, Carton Service also offers a variety of creative shapes, sizes and styles. Available with or without windows, here are some examples of the unexpected places their containers can be used:

• Direct Food Contact Cartons: Designed for dry ingredients like granola and pet food, this carton choice helps eliminate internal plastic bag-based packaging typically used for these products.

• Liquid Filled Gable Top Cartons: Designed with or without caps, these are ideal for nearly any liquid-based consumer product, such as hand soaps, detergent, milks, juices and more. This shape of carton is the most recognizable, but also versatile for a lot of liquid products not currently using a gable-top design, such as sparkling water or disinfectant wipes.

• Gallon-Sized Cartons: These cartons are designed for semi-solid foods like potato salad or coleslaw, and can help eliminate large plastic containers that are not recyclable.

Today’s consumers oftentimes find themselves at a crossroads between what works best, and what is best for the planet. Carton Service’s top priority is to make both of those benefits a reality. As the world continues to evolve and innovate new alternatives to plastics, Carton Service hopes to offer a popular and dependable solution for companies across the United States looking to deliver the same quality product, without leaving the negative impact of plastic packaging waste. As the world continues to produce sustainable innovations for the products we depend on, Carton Service CSi, LLC hopes to be in a good position to take the alternative packaging market by storm, The development of their “Cartons 4R Earth” line is a big step towards that goal.

Metsä Board, the leading European producer of premium fresh fibre paperboards and part of Metsä Group, is proud to have been awarded again the Platinum level rating by EcoVadis for the company’s sustainability and corporate social responsibility. With a top score of 83/100 Metsä Board is among the highest 1% of companies assessed in the manufacture of corrugated paper and paperboard and containers of paper and paperboard.

EcoVadis assesses companies covering four themes: Metsä Board was in the top 1% of companies for Environment, Labour & Human Rights and Sustainable Procurement and in the top 4% for Ethics.

“At Metsä Board, responsibility is an integral part of our daily operations – now and in the future. This time I was especially glad about our improved scoring in Sustainable Procurement as the whole value chain is important for leaders in sustainability. We have ambitious sustainability targets for 2030 covering both our own operations and the supply chain. For example, our goal is to achieve 100% fossil free mills with zero fossil CO2 emissions and 100% fossil free raw materials by the end of 2030,” says Mika Joukio, CEO, Metsä Board.

EcoVadis operates a platform allowing companies to assess the environmental and social performance of its suppliers on a global basis. The methodology and criteria used are in line with international Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) standards including the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), UN Global Compact, and ISO 26000.

Metsä Group

Metsä Group leads the way in the bioeconomy. We invest in growth, developing bioproducts and a fossil free future. The raw material for our products is renewable wood from sustainably managed northern forests. We focus on the growth sectors of the forest industry: wood supply and forest services, wood products, pulp, fresh fibre paperboards, and tissue and greaseproof papers.

Metsä Group’s annual sales is approximately EUR 5.5 billion, and we have around 9,200 employees in 30 countries. Our international Group has its roots in the Finnish forest: our parent company is Metsäliitto Cooperative owned by 100,000 forest owners.

On a mission to find a sustainable alternative and reduce the menace of plastic pollution, Kagzi Bottles, a company based in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, has produced a 100 per cent compostable paper bottle, that claims to be the first-of-its-kind in India.

India generates 3.3 million metric tonnes of plastic waste annually, as per this 2018-19 report.

The idea to find an alternative to single-use plastic first took shape when Samiksha Ganeriwal, the founder of Kagzi Bottles, was working on a college project.

“Back in my college days, I had worked on a project to replace plastic bags and at that time there were no other alternatives. It has always been at the back of my mind to find an alternative to plastic because I have wanted to make a shift in my lifestyle but could not find alternatives. That’s when I decided to start working towards this,” Samiksha shares with The Better India.

However, her dream of creating an alternative to plastic packaging materialised many years later in 2018.

After finishing her MBA from Vignana Jyothi Institute of Management in 2006, she went on to work at various multinational companies in Hyderabad and Noida. In 2016, she set up her own packaging solutions company and it was during this time that she began to explore alternatives to plastic bottles.

In 2018, while working on a project for one of her clients on eco-friendly packaging she decided it was time to set up a company solely focused on creating 100 per cent compostable paper bottles.

With a keen interest in finding an alternative but no educational training in the field, she consulted product designers and scientists to develop the product. Over the next two years, she faced a number of challenges. The first was the lack of awareness about the method of how to create such a product.

“When I started, the biggest challenge was finding the right machinery. It wasn’t possible to just go to the market and buy a machine as this is the first-of-its-kind in India. We had to build the machines from scratch. I had to find the right people to help build them, taking into account the nature of the product,” says Samiksha.

The second challenge was consumer perception of the product. When the first sample of the product was made she went around showing her friends and family.

“They were quite surprised with the shape and colour as it is completely brown and people are so used to [transparent] plastic bottles. Eventually, however, they have come around and are excited about the work we are doing,” says the 38-year-old entrepreneur.

The Government’s blanket ban on single-use plastic items like bags, spoons and cups in 2019, drove Samiksha to the realisation of the urgent need for alternatives.

In December 2020, after more than two years of setting up Kagzi Bottles, the prototype of the bottle was launched which contains no plastic and is 100 per cent compostable.

Samiksha was determined that the name of the company denote how the product was made in India. This is how the company came to be named Kagzi Bottles, ‘Kagzi’ derived from the Hindi word kaagaz meaning paper.

In recent years, large multinational companies like The Coca-Cola Company or L’Oreal have also been working to create paper bottles as sustainability and anti-plastic sentiment rises. However, these bottles have a thin inner layer of plastic to provide a moisture barrier and resistance to other environmental factors, thus making the bottles not entirely free of plastic.

This is where the Kagzi Bottles are unique. The bottles are made using paper waste, which is currently being sourced from a company in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh. This waste paper is then mixed with water and chemicals to break it down and get a mixture called pulp. This is then moulded into the desired shape of two halves of a bottle.

Following this step, the halves are then spray painted with a solution that mimics the water-resistant properties of a banana leaf. Finally, these two halves are then glued together.

“This is the first time that an Indian company has been successful in making such a bottle and we were very proud of the work being done. We wanted to showcase it as an Indian product and for consumers to immediately connect it to its Indian roots,” says Samiksha.

With an initial investment of Rs 12 lakhs, Kagzi is currently producing bottles only for shampoos, conditioners and lotions. These bottles are cheaper than plastic and are priced at Rs 19 to Rs 22. While each bottle at the moment takes two days to make, with more orders they now produce 2 lakh bottles per month.

Samiksha believes that these compostable bottles have the potential to replace plastic as a packaging material in the future.

“One person uses an average of seven plastic bottles per month only for toiletries. Kagzi bottles could be an alternative for all types of packaging not just toiletries but beverages, liquids and powders too,” says Samiksha.

They are working towards creating bottles for food and beverages and plan on setting up manufacturing units in four cities across the country.

Even when it comes to her everyday life, she tries her best to make sustainable product choices like opting for bamboo instead of plastic. As a mother of two young children, she ensures that they know the importance of using sustainable products.

Samiksha signs off with a message for everyone, “We need to get conscious about what we are doing to the environment. I think it is the need of the hour to shift towards more sustainable alternatives even if this means a compromise in style.”

In response to consumer trends around convenient, homecooked-style foods, customers of the fiber-based packaging leader can now benefit from award-winning PaperSeal tray technology for oven- and microwave-ready chilled and frozen food applications.

The news immediately follows Graphic Packaging’s launch of PaperSeal Slice® and PaperSeal Wedge, designed for sliced meat and cheese applications. As with all solutions in the existing portfolio, sustainability is top of mind for GPI. As such, PaperSeal Cook reduces the amount of plastic when compared to traditional trays – in this instance by up to 80 percent.

Ricardo De Genova, Graphic Packaging’s SVP, global innovation and new business development, commented: “Many of our customers are seeking to minimize the amount of plastic packaging they use in a category that has traditionally been dominated by CPET trays. We’ve transferred our PaperSeal technology to a convenient fiber-based ovenable and microwaveable solution that has all the benefits of the PaperSeal tray along with a liner that can withstand the high temperatures required in cooking.”

The PaperSeal Cook tray features a one-piece continuous sealing flange to prevent leaks and ensure robustness through the supply chain. After use, the consumer can easily separate the liner film from the paperboard, making the paperboard portion of the tray 100 percent recyclable through normal collection channels.

Graphic Packaging is committed to supporting its customers in their transition to fiber-based alternatives to plastic packaging. In line with its Vision 2025 goals, the Company aims to make 100 percent of its products fully recyclable by 2025.

De Genova added: “As a business we are inspired by consumer and market trends and aim to make ‘a world of difference’ through our packaging, breaking ground with innovative fiber-based solutions in areas where they traditionally may not have had a place. Through collaboration with likeminded partners, we create viable and scalable fiber-based solutions for brands and retailers who have sustainability goals on their agenda.”