Their research was published in the prestigious journal Advanced Materials IF:25.809 earlier this year: "A Self-Healing Nanofiber-Based Self-Responsive Time-Temperature Indicator for Securing a Cold-Supply Chain." This cold-chain safety sticker creates an image on it when exposed to room temperature (10 0C or higher). Room temperature exposure history and time throughout the cold chain delivery process are indicated but cannot be manually edited. When refrigerated or frozen foods are exposed to room temperature, usually bacteria begin to grow and reproduce. However, it is difficult to see visually as certain bacteria do not affect the taste and smell of foods and frozen foods have almost the same appearance even after melting and refreezing. The core technology of the cold-chain safety sticker is nanofibre film. The researchers attempted to attach a typical film on the back of this newly developed film. At low temperatures, the nanofibre film has a stable structure where thin threads intersect each other, making it opaque because the light is scattered. When exposed to room temperature for a period of time, this structure collapses. Specifically, the thin threads start to melt and become entangled with each other. This allows light to transmit through the film, making it appear transparent. Then the image produced on the typical film on the back becomes visible from the front, showing that the food may have spoiled. The researchers found a way to control the time that is required for the film to become transparent when exposed to room temperature, accounting for variations in spoilage times of different foods. So each sticker was designed to become transparent after a minimum of 30m and a maximum of 24 hours of exposure. This was achieved by controlling the composition and thickness of the nanofibres. Dr Dongyeop Oh from the KRICT said, "This sticker, once exposed to room temperature, cannot be restored to its original state, even if one attempts to refrigerate or freeze it again. Also, room-temperature exposure time cannot be manually adjusted. This means that there is virtually no room for any manipulation." “It does not require modularization, accurately measures localized or gradient heat and functions even after crushing, cutting, and when weight?loaded in a manner that existing TTIs cannot. It also contains no drainable chemicals and is attachable to various shapes because it operates through an intrinsic physical response,” he added. The cold-chain safety sticker can be widely used not only for food product applications but also for the cold-chain distribution of expensive medicine and medical supplies, they say. This is because the sticker is thin and flexible. It is estimated manufacturing cost is low at one cent per unit.

Speaking on the launch of the report, Elopak’s Sustainability Director Marianne Groven stated, “To be sustainable in business is not only possible, it is highly necessary. Maintaining healthy growth without exploiting natural or human resources is essential.” Sustainability is at the heart of Elopak’s mission to provide consumers with a natural and convenient alternative to plastic bottles that fit within a low carbon circular economy. The company has previously recorded a number of key environmental milestones including the reduction of its emissions by 70 per cent between 2008 and 2018 and the attainment of carbon neutrality in 2016. In the introduction to the report CEO Thomas Körmendi sets out the context for Elopak’s ever-strengthening focus on sustainability stating, “2019 was a year of many global challenges. We saw teenagers on strike for climate change. We saw the Amazon on fire. We saw hurricanes and flooding, and terrorist attacks. We saw politicians struggling to agree on how to tackle the global challenges ahead. Lately we have also seen how the whole world can rapidly change and adjust to forces greater than ourselves.” “We recognize our part in the global struggle to preserve the planet for future generations,” Körmendi continues. “In 2019, Elopak strengthened the focus on sustainability, thoroughly embedding sustainability as part of our overall business strategy. A set of goals and strategic initiatives were anchored in the Board of Directors and several projects have been initiated in various business units. Elopak was one out of 87 companies, and the first packaging company, to lead the way towards a 1.5°C future at the UN Climate Action Summit,” he explains. As one of the first companies to have signed up to the Science Based Targets initiative commitment to keep the rise in global average temperature below 1.5°C, Elopak continues to push itself towards new sustainability goals. These include a 55 per cent reduction of internal GHG emissions by 2030, and a 16 per cent reduction in emissions across the value chain by 2030 from a 2017 baseline, as approved by the Science Based Targets initiative. Other targets include a 70 per cent recycling rate in the EU and Canada by 2025, a sustainability evaluation of key suppliers by 2022, and 100 per cent certified forestry in Elopak cartons. Innovation is set to play a key role in helping Elopak meet its ambitious targets going forward, with the company increasing R&D spending by 25 per cent between 2017 and 2019. Recent innovation efforts contributed to the launch of Elopak’s most environmentally friendly carton to date – the Pure-Pak® Imagine. Launched in 2020, the carton is a modern version of the company’s original Pure-Pak® carton, containing 46 per cent less plastic and designed with a new easy open feature. It has no plastic screw cap and is 100 per cent forest-based made with Natural Brown Board.

Gurugram, India, July 27, 2020 - PackagingConnections has started with a series of webinars during July’2020. After successfully completing the first one on “Introduction to PackagingConnections”, the company is coming up with a new paid webinar on an important topic SUSTAINABILITY. The company has completed the initial research on Sustainability in Packaging and is ready to present its findings to the packaging community. The webinar will cover the current practices, challenges, and ways forward. This webinar would also take its audience through many examples that are already implemented.

"Our entire portfolio, but especially our signature spiced pickles, is really different than anything else that's on shelves, and while it served us well for years, our former packaging just wasn't quite right for us anymore given who we are now and where we want to go in the future," said Alok Advani, CEO of SuckerPunch Gourmet. "We're very excited to debut a new look this year that better portrays our brand and product line, but still maintains the familiar elements of our identity that our consumers know and love."

SuckerPunch Gourmet's new packaging was designed to be fresh, modern and fun, while still maintaining ties to its original identity and roots. The brand's iconic boxer emblem has been softened, with a nod to vintage prizefighters, while simultaneously re-illustrating him in a modern Shepard Fairey-style. SuckerPunch Gourmet also created a brand block on the front of each product label using bold, saturated colors that clearly distinguish the flavor varieties and make it easy for shoppers to quickly and easily find their favorite pickle flavor. As a means to drive home unique points of differentiation, the refreshed packaging includes pops of critical elements such as a Non-GMO Project Verified logo, an "11-spice" icon that is shaped like a pickle chip, and back panel romance copy that's modeled after a vintage boxing poster. With a new look from top to bottom, SuckerPunch even gave the lids a revamp calling out the "knockout flavor" as a reminder for every consumer reaching for or opening a jar.

Specifically, innovative, efficient bioplastic production processes were developed to package food using renewable materials that are also recyclable and could replace conventional fossil fuel-based materials. These bioplastics include polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) and polyglycolide (PGA), which were used to develop three different bio-based active packaging systems, specifically designed to package fresh chicken meat, cereals and snacks.

One of project’s innovations was the formulation of bacteriophage-based coatings that considerably reduce the proliferation of Salmonella bacteria in chicken breast samples packaged in a modified atmosphere. The project successfully addressed one of the problems faced by packaging with barrier properties: in order to protect food, packaging must be made up of complex multilayer structures that are either difficult or costly to recycle. However, all the packaging systems developed by the REFUCOAT Project can be recycled and/or converted into compost, making them a promising sustainable alternative.

Lorena Rodríguez Garrido, Packaging Researcher at AIMPLAS and scientific co-ordinator of REFUCOAT, said: “Packaging must be recyclable and must also maintain the barrier properties that help protect packaged food. Current packaging has a complex multilayer structure and is made from non-renewable sources. It provides all the protective functions but is difficult and expensive to recycle. REFUCOAT aims to replace current packaging with more sustainable, better-performing alternatives.”

High-performance packaging design

The REFUCOAT Project focused on three main areas: developing active coatings for food packaging films that use bacteriophage organisms; using low-quality flour as a base to produce PHA,; and developing an efficient production process for PGA, a completely biodegradable material with excellent water barrier properties. Until recently, this solution had been too expensive to use to replace fossil fuel-based materials.

The REFUCOAT Project ended in October 2020 after successfully validating all the new packaging structures and comparing their performance with metallised packaging. Tests were also carried out to compare the products’ shelf life and biodegradability with those of current conventional packaging on the market

Consumers can access the cocoa, coffee and chicory drink, and cereal products in reusable stainless-steel containers through Carrefour's e-commerce delivery platform. By the end of the year, the products will be available online and in 10 Carrefour stores in and around Paris.

Once consumed, the empty containers are collected from the consumer's home or dropped off by the consumer in the stores. The containers are then cleaned, refilled and put back in Loop platform's circular system.

Experts from Nestlé's Institute of Packaging Sciences tested the new containers to ensure that they keep the product fresh and safe throughout the shelf-life.

With the addition of the three new brands to the Loop platform, Nestlé is continuing its efforts to reduce the environmental footprint of its packaging, while contributing to a circular economy. Currently Nestlé's partnership with Carrefour and Loop in France includes a home delivery and deposit system for Vittel and S.Pellegrino natural mineral water in reusable glass bottles. Nestlé also recently launched the first cat litter in a durable and refillable container via Loop's eCommerce platform in the U.S.

The number of hospitals and beds needed for Covid-19 patients have been shooting up with the increase in cases being tested positive for the virus. The Centre also said the government is taking vital steps, to the extent of being over-prepared, to combat the deadly virus.

Many hospitals across the nation have reported the need for more hospital beds in order to keep up with the growing number of Covid-19 cases. Keeping this in mind, Haresh Mehta of Jayna Packaging has come up with a recyclable, lightweight and cost-effective solution – a medical bed made of corrugated fiberboard.

According to Mehta, the lightweight bed can withstand up to 300 kgs, and can be assembled easily. The bed can also be sanitised and withstand daily moping. Also, studies show that Covid-19 virus can survive for 12 hours on paper, whereas up to 72 hours on plastic and metal.

Meanwhile, the health ministry announced that it has earmarked over one lakh beds in 601 hospitals across the country even as estimates show only 1,671 beds are required in tertiary care.

Drink Technology India is the international trade fair for the beverage and liquid food industry. It covers the full spectrum of the liquid food and beverage sector in India. The show is divided into different exhibition sectors like soft drinks, beer and brewery equipment up to liquid food and for the first-time oils and fats.

Food Pack Asia is the most comprehensive sourcing platform for food processing & packaging machinery, drink technology, hotel & restaurant technology and bakery innovation for Thai food and beverage industrialists. The exhibition provides an excellent opportunity for food industrialists and beverage professionals who are looking for new technology, machinery and business solutions of food processing, packaging machinery, drink technology, and other related products and services from Thailand and overseas.

Coca-Cola European Partners has today announced the introduction of CanCollar®, an innovative paperboard packaging solution, for multipack cans in Spain. The move supports its work, in partnership with Coca-Cola, to remove all unnecessary or hard to recycle plastic from its portfolio, avoiding the use of more than 11,000 tonnes of virgin plastic a year across Western Europe. Initially, Coca-Cola European Partners will launch the new, PEFC certified[1] recyclable and sustainably sourced paperboard CanCollar® in the Balearic Islands in November 2020, a first in Europe. Innovative packaging design is a core principle of Coca-Cola’s World Without Waste strategy and through collaboration with WestRock, a global company that provides its customers with sustainable differentiated packaging solutions, Coca-Cola European Partners will start to use the CanCollar® paperboard can ring technology in the Balearic Islands, replacing the current Hi-cone solution and saving more than 18 tonnes of plastic annually. Coca-Cola European Partners has invested 2.6 million euros in its Barcelona plant to support this initiative. The installation of WestRock’s CanCollar® Fortuna™ manufacturing equipment will enable multipack cans to be grouped in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way, with a process that does not require the use of glue or adhesives. Joe Franses, Vice President of Sustainability, Coca-Cola European Partners said, " The agreement with WestRock exemplifies our clear commitment to reduce plastic in our secondary packaging. By the end of 2020, we will have removed more than 4,000 tonnes of hard to recycle plastic from our secondary packaging in Western Europe. It’s through collaborating on innovative packaging solutions like CanCollar® that we are able to do this.” Dwayne Irvin, Vice President of Enterprise Solutions at WestRock said, “We are proud of our longstanding partnership with Coca-Cola. For 70 years we have supported Coca-Cola in bringing innovation to global beverage markets. CanCollar® is the latest initiative supporting Coca-Cola’s vision to create a World Without Waste.”