Sustainability

Plastic packaging for fresh fruits and vegetables will be banned from January 1 in France as the country phases out single-use plastic. Fresh food producers say, however, that they aren't ready yet as little alternative has been found to replace plastic packaging.

• Al-Hajri: “Promoting community accountability, minimizing carbon footprint, and firmly establishing recycling and the principles of the green circular economy to enhance the attractiveness and sustainability of Dubai.”
• Neutralizing the emission of 102 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere”

The main objective of this initiative is to reinforce community responsibility in the environmental sector, inspiring both individuals and institutions to make eco-friendly choices.

In September, 19 companies submitted 22 solution proposals to Moelven Wood's packaging challenge - to find a more sustainable packaging for their wooden interior panels.

Out of these, Ahlstrom, Billerud, Boxon, Lignin Industries, and T-Emballage were selected to work on the challenge during MoelvenHackathon. The innovation competition was arranged by the forestry bioeconomy cluster Paper Province and held in Karlstad, Sweden, on December 11 and 12.

Billerud was the winner

Tesco is scrapping plastic packaging from its own-brand pocket tissues, in a move that the UK’s largest supermarket says will eliminate almost 35 tonnes of new soft plastic waste each year.

It is the first big supermarket to make the change, which will result in the individual packaging and the wrapping around multipacks of Tesco tissues in its gentle white and balm ranges being replaced with Forest Stewardship Council-certified paper packs.

Expanded PolyStyrene (EPS) microplastics are widely recognised as a significant contributor to marine plastic pollution, making up over 40% of plastic debris on Asian beaches.¹ Bans on EPS packaging have gained tremendous momentum recently, particularly in the European Union and the wider Caribbean region.^2,3 Legislation banning the use of EPS packaging has also been introduced in Fiji, the Philippines, and regions in the United States, just to name a few.^4,5,6

Tequila Komos, the category-leading ultra-luxury tequila brand continues to set new environmental impact standards for the tequila industry by partnering with Green Loop, an emerging leader in sustainable packaging solutions. Based in Jalisco, Mexico, Green Loop is the first company to innovate with ecosolutions using byproduct waste from the tequila industry and is the first Agave Bagasse Waste Recovery Center.

Paper-based packaging alternatives employ innovative technologies to deliver the right barrier, shelf-life, and machine performance to meet brand and product needs. Consumers often seek paper-based packaging to deliver a more sustainable end-of-life, due to widespread curbside paper collection and recycling. And on the shelf, paper-based solutions meet consumers’ preferences for a natural look and feel.

The report details Vegware’s commitment to driving access to composting infrastructure and how its waste consultancy has supported caterers to compost its used compostable containers, cutlery and cups.  

Among the highlights, the report details: 

Krones’ revolutionary bottle design can be used to make containers that are sustainable and weigh very little, but its advantages are also apparent during the bottle production and processing stages. The bottles have excellent stackability even without the stabilising effect of nitrogen pressurisation, with a filled topload of up to 40 kilograms.

Bondi residents were greeted with a powerful message this morning after a four-metre-high plastic ‘poop emoji’, representing the amount of waste (7.5 tonnes) that enters the world’s oceans every 30 seconds, was installed on Bondi Beach.

B-Corp-certified sustainable packaging company, Better Packaging Co., commissioned and strategically placed the striking sculpture* on Bondi Beach to coincide with World Environment Day (5 June).

The theme of this year's United Nations global program is #BeatPlasticPollution, with over 100 initiatives taking place worldwide.