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.

With the bioplastic Röchling-BioBoom, Röchling Automotive is the first company on the market to have a patented polylactide (PLA)-based biopolymer that consists of at least 90 percent renewable raw materials. In this way, the company offers an ecological and economical alternative to most conventional materials such as polyester (PC, PET, PBT) but also polystyrene (ABS), polyolefins (such as PP) and polyamides (PA6).

‘We want to support our customers in the development of environmentally friendly vehicles and thus help shape the transformation of the industry towards a sustainable one,’ explains Prof. Dr. Hanns-Peter Knaebel, Chairman of the Board of Management and CEO of Röchling Automotive. ‘With our bioplastics, we are bringing a sustainable solution to the market that originates from a completely self-controlled supply chain - from renewable resources to the automobile manufacturers’. Röchling Automotive has built up internal expertise in materials development over many years in cooperation with various partners.

With significant improvements in terms of thermal stability and chemical resistance compared to standard PLA, the new biopolymer family meets the company's high technical requirements and specifications.

Röchling BioBoom enables greenhouse gas emission savings that are about 70 percent higher than those of PP and almost 90 percent higher than those of PA6. This means that if the proportion of petrochemical plastics in a mid-sized car is replaced by Röchling Automotive's bioplastics, 515 kilograms of CO2 emissions can be saved per vehicle production.

Three standard types of Röchling Automotive biopolymers are currently available, which are suitable for applications in the engine compartment and underbody as well as for the interior of a vehicle. Each of the three types can be tailored to individual customer needs and the respective specific requirements. Röchling BioBoom can also be used for almost the entire product portfolio of Röchling Automotive.

Tetra Pak’s new UHT 2.0 portfolio with OneStep technology and Tetra Pak® E3/Speed Hyper reduce water and steam consumption, creating less wastewater and therefore also lowering the cost of its removal for Dairy manufacturers. Adding a Tetra Pak® Water Filtering Station to Tetra Pak® E3/Speed Hyper helps recover 5500 litres of water per filling machine running hour (up to 95%), while contributing to lower water consumption. With water scarcity on the rise, wastewater is increasingly becoming a pressing industry concern. Up to a fifth of Tetra Pak’s customers are based in high or extremely high-risk water areas and the company is prioritising action to address this.

The combination of UHT 2.0 with OneStep technology and Tetra Pak® E3/Speed Hyper scores highly across industry benchmarks for sustainability, with a 0.8 GHG Index score, a 0.3 Water Index score and a Product Losses Index score of 0.72. When compared to a conventional line solution3 this optimal integrated solution reduces GHG emissions by 20%, water usage by 70% and product losses by 30%.

Alejandro Cabal, Vice President Packaging Solutions, Tetra Pak, said: "As part of Tetra Pak’s wider ambition to reach net zero emissions across the value chain by 2050, we want to be part of the solution to limit climate change for the global dairy sector. To achieve this, accelerating the development of our low carbon circular packaging and equipment portfolio and working to help customers realise their emission reduction targets is a priority. A significant share of emissions comes from the operation of equipment at customers' sites. Addressing this through innovation and collaboration is vital.”

Frederik Wellendorph, Vice President Liquid Food, Tetra Pak, said: “We continuously innovate in both food processing and packaging to offer solutions which enable reduction in water consumption, carbon footprint and product losses. In addition to this, we offer environmental benchmarking and improvement services, helping customers achieve their own sustainability targets. Through this holistic approach to sustainability, we aim to help our customers benefit both from low-carbon equipment and packaging, a reduction in operational costs as well as an enhanced brand image – that is increasingly proving attractive to sustainability-savvy consumers.”

Upgrades to Tetra Pak’s UHT 2.0 portfolio will enhance automation possibilities and performance, with the offering representing the strongest4 in the industry. The new UHT 2.0 portfolio combined with OneStep technology cuts processing steps out of the production line without affecting end-product quality.

Tetra Pak® E3/Speed Hyper represents the future of portion package production. It is the world’s fastest aseptic carton filling machine, producing up to 40,000 portion packs per hour, using eBeam5 sterilisation technology to complete the task more efficiently and more rapidly than has previously been possible. This reduces the environmental impact and makes water recycling easier. It couples low-cost high-speed production with significant environmental advantages. While its increased capacity can reduce manufacturers’ operational costs by up to 10%6, it also represents a low carbon alternative to aseptic PET equipment – since electricity consumption and carbon footprint are both five times lower than for aseptic PET lines.

The announcement follows Tetra Pak’s 2020 pledge to not only reach net zero emissions in its own operations by 2030, but to also realise a net zero emissions ambition across the value chain by 2050. Tetra Pak has planned a step-change in investment levels in sustainable innovation, committing at least €100 million annually over the next 5-10 years. This will help the company realise its goal of offering processing and packaging solutions with a minimal carbon footprint.

The first partnership, with strategic packaging supplier, Albea, which is one of the world’s largest tube manufacturers, will see GSKCH switch its toothpaste tubes from aluminium barrier laminates to the patented Greenleaf laminate. The switch-over will begin with Sensodyne Pronamel tubes, which will be available in fully recyclable alternatives in Europe this July. This will be bolstered by a second partnership with EPL Global to produce tubes in Platina laminate. Both laminates have passed recycling-readiness tests set by the US-based Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) and by Europe’s RecyClass, meaning that the tubes will be recyclable and compatible with existing recycling processes. It is anticipated that the combined moves will see over a billion toothpaste tubes per year become recyclable by 2025.

Sarah McDonald, VP Sustainability, GSK Consumer Healthcare said “We are fighting every day to help eradicate preventable oral health problems and to provide people with better, more sustainable oral care solutions that don’t compromise on quality. We have made the commitment that 100% of our product packaging will be recyclable or reusable, where quality and safety permits, by 2025.This is just one part of our ongoing sustainability journey, in which we are working to address the environmental and societal barriers to everyday health.”

GSKCH has been instrumental in the growth of the oral care category globally, applying its trusted science to build awareness of preventable oral care conditions and drive better oral care habits. It is now collaborating with retailers and dental healthcare professionals to drive the growth of more sustainable options in oral care products across the world.

Earlier this year, it launched its first sustainable toothbrush ‘Dr. Best’ in Germany. Made from sustainably cultivated bamboo, with a biodegradable handle, the Dr. Best brush features plastic-free packaging made from recycled cardboard. For Sensodyne and Aquafresh, it has launched plastic-free toothbrush packaging featuring a cellulose gum window which enables shoppers to see the brush inside.The business is now working to help reduce the environmental impact of dentistry and the dental industry as a founding partner of the World Dental Federation (FDI) Sustainability in Dentistry Initiative.

GSKCH’s sustainability initiatives support GSK’s new company wide commitment to achieve a net zero impact on climate and a positive impact on nature by 2030, announced by CEO Emma Walmsley in November 2020.

Karl Graves, Business Director at Albéa Tubes, said “We are extremely proud to roll out our responsible Greenleaf tube packaging solution with an inspiring market leader such as GSK. Our commitment is to make 100% of our tubes recyclable by 2025 while offering innovative solutions with PCR, paper and bio-based resins. Responsible packaging is now a must-have – and it requires close collaboration between a committed brand and a daring supplier.”

EPL’s Platina Tube with HDPE closure, is the world’s first fully sustainable and completely recyclable tube accredited by APR. This partnership will help Unilever's oral care brands like Signal, Pepsodent and Closeup to be 100% recyclable by 2025.

Speaking on the partnership, Ram Ramasamy, Chief Operating Officer, EPL Limited said, “EPL is proud to be associated with Unilever to further their sustainability initiatives in the oral care range. We are committed to enabling and inspiring responsible consumption through innovation in packaging. EPL’s Platina, ecofriendly laminated tube, produced with less than 5% barrier resin, is designed to deliver source reduction and recyclability without the loss of any barrier properties. Platina tube is especially suited for oral and beauty & cosmetics products brands.”

Deepak Ganjoo, Regional Vice President, Africa, Middle East and South Asia, EPL Limited, said, “EPL is proud to be a partner to one of the world’s most prestigious brands in their quest to have a positive impact on the environment. Sustainability has been a key focus area at EPL and today we find all responsible brands moving in a similar direction. As market leaders EPL has a significant role to play in contributing towards sustainable development, helping brands along this journey.”

Unilever will be launching fully recyclable tubes later this year in two of their biggest oral care markets, France and India.

Building on its recent track record of breakthrough innovations to deliver recyclable packaging, Amcor is today announcing customer trials of the world’s first recyclable* Polyethylene-based thermoform blister packaging. The new packaging is designed to meet the stringent requirements of highly specialized and regulated pharmaceutical packaging and creates a more sustainable alternative for the most in-demand healthcare packaging type. This innovation also benefits from up to 70% reduction in its carbon footprint, when compared to packaging alternatives on the market today.

AmSky™ eliminates PVC (PolyVinyl Chloride) from the packaging by using a Polyethylene (PE) thermoform blister and lidding film. PVC can make packaging recycling more difficult or contaminate other materials if consumers attempt to recycle it. By removing PVC – whilst retaining all the benefits of pre-existing blister packaging – Amcor has created a new, recyclable solution that benefits the entire recycling process.

Amcor is currently working with several leading pharmaceutical companies to bring AmSky™ to market globally. The company expects AmSky™ to be available in the healthcare market by the second half of 2022.

Peter Konieczny, Amcor’s Chief Commercial Officer, said: “Amcor is deploying our unique innovation capabilities to solve the biggest and most significant issues in packaging today. With AmSky™ Amcor has signalled our commitment to breakthrough innovation in the healthcare space – this is why we remain the packaging partner of choice for our healthcare customers, generating close to $2bn in annual sales in this market. This new blister packaging solution will significantly enhance the ability of healthcare and pharmaceutical brands to put sustainability at the heart of their businesses.”

William Jackson, Amcor’s Chief Technology Officer for Flexibles, commented: “This exciting solution is a result of Amcor’s continued focus on advanced technology and growth, using the entire power of our global R&D network to bring recyclable solutions to our customers.”

Developed by Smurfit Kappa with 100% recyclable materials, the main advantage of the packaging design is its flexibility and the ability to accommodate different shapes and sizes of wine bottles safely, without having to use any filling materials. This design has a variety of 220 options to optimise space within the cardboard box and to accommodate different formats allowing for the wine bottle and food to fit perfectly. 

Commenting on the award, Juan Guillermo Castañeda, CEO of Smurfit Kappa The Americas said: “We are extremely pleased to receive the Product Design 2021 Red Dot Award. It demonstrates that our innovative and sustainable packaging designs are making a difference. Partnerships with businesses like Wine & Bite Box are extremely important to us. We embrace the challenge to improve and develop our packaging designs to meet the changing needs of our customers and to build on our expertise.”

With the growth in e-commerce during 2020, accelerated due to the pandemic, Wine & Bite Box saw an increase of 21% in sales and, currently, its products are being delivered across Brazil.

“The new packaging solution developed by Smurfit Kappa will ensure that my products arrive safely and securely to my customers, wherever in Brazil they may be, guaranteeing a positive experience from start to finish,” said Myriam Echeverri, sommelier and founder of Wine & Bite Box.

“Each of my gourmet tasting boxes are unique, and that uniqueness starts with the packaging. It is a great honour to receive this award together with Smurfit Kappa, as we are not only working on something that is innovative and sustainable, but also provides the best unboxing experience for customers.”

Smurfit Kappa is known for Better Planet Packaging, a portfolio of innovative packaging solutions which are designed to be more sustainable and tailored to customer needs.