Plastic packaging technology firm Petainer has unveiled what it claims is the most eco-friendly bottle design it's ever produced.

According to the company, its PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) refillable bottle goes one step beyond the ‘sustainability of what is already one of the most environmentally friendly forms of beverage packaging.'

The green bottle's recycled PET content is over 25 per cent and, says Petainer, it performs just as well as a standard virgin material-made design. To take one example, that means carbonated drinks can be kept just as fizzy when contained in this bottle.

Green PET Bottle

Petainer is now looking to give the green PET bottle a full European launch and is collaborating with brewery firms, bottle water production sites and carbonated drinks manufacturers alike in this regard.

"The bottles are ‘eco-friendly' because they use up to 90 per cent less virgin material per filling. Introducing post-consumer recyclate means that the bottles now require less energy and other resources to manufacture", Petainer's chief executive, Nigel Pritchard, explained in a statement. He continued: "They are also economical in the traditional sense because the environmental benefits translate into lower costs. As the cost of PET resins inexorably increases, the economics of refillable bottles using recycled material become even more compelling."

PET Refillable Bottle

The PET refillable bottle concept has several stages. Firstly, once its contents have been consumed, the bottle is taken back to the shop it was bought from. It's then sent onto a drinks manufacturer and refilled with a new product, after having been cleaned.

Data published by Petainer highlights how, when compared side-by-side, the number of complete cycles undertaken by traditional refillable bottles and this new, greener design completely match up.

‘The PET packaging market has been growing at almost 10 per cent per year', the company states, on its website. ‘Even with slower recent growth, industry experts predict that the economic, environmental, food safety and functional benefits of PET mean that it will shortly become the dominant plastics container resin, growing at approximately 7 per cent per annum through to 2015.'

Image courtesy Smye Holland Associates - reproduced with grateful thanks

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Philadelphia and Cadbury, two of US food processing firm Kraft Foods' brands, now appear on the same packaging design with the launch, this week, of a new chocolate spread.

Linking up cream cheese brand Philadelphia and confectionary company Cadbury, the spread made its UK supermarket debut on 1 February and is being supported by a multi-million pound marketing campaign.

Although the presence of these two names on a single product is new to UK consumers, their European counterparts can already purchase ‘Milka' - another Philadelphia-based chocolate spread.

Chocolate Cheese Packaging

The hybrid chocolate cheese packaging design was developed by prominent UK design agency Holmes and Marchant, which has a presence in five countries and whose clients include Nestle, BP, Guinness, Bud Light, Roche and Unilever. This basically blends together the traditional Philadelphia blue and white with the familiar purple of Cadbury, while overlaid is a photo of a slice of bread, covered in the spread.

The result is an eye-catching depiction that effectively combines the two brands in the same kind of way as does the spread itself.

"We are really proud to announce the launch of Philadelphia with Cadbury", Brian O'Sullivan - Kraft Foods Ireland's managing director - explained in a company statement. "It represents a bold cross-category innovation which brings together two iconic brands to create a new sub-category in the chilled aisle and a great tasting product for Philly and Cadbury lovers everywhere."

Philadelphia-Cadbury Pack

According to Kraft, the combined Philadelphia-Cadbury pack has the potential to take on Nutella - the market-leading chocolate spread - which has now been available for almost 50 years and can be purchased in some 75 nations.

In related news, details of a new Cadbury chocolate bar packaging design, named ‘Shelf-Ready Packaging', were unveiled at the start of 2012. According to Kraft's UK President, Shelf-Ready Packaging "allows retailers to simply remove the front of the case containing the chocolate bars and put it straight on to the stores' shelves."

Image courtesy Holmes and Marchant

Global packaging growth will rise to $820bn over the next four years, with emerging markets fuelling the increase, Pira International has predicted.

The company's Future of Global Packaging Market and Technology study describes how metal and glass packaging will exhibit only limited growth but rigid, flexible and corrugated packaging will be hot commodities - the demand for them increasing in line with heightened convenience and perishable food demand.

Food and drink packaging demand will surge in Brazil, Russian, India and China in particular between now and 2016, with a $40bn growth suggested.

Global Packaging Growth

Pira's global packaging growth report illustrates the present-day scenario, to emphasis events yet to come. Its data shows that the US consumed more packaging than any other nation in 2010, with $137bn in demand. China, in second place, demanded $80 billion and is set to overtake the US during the coming five years.

India's packaging demand, meanwhile, is on course to increase twofold within the same timeframe and, if that happens, it will become a member of the global top ten.

Sector-wise, the packaging market is dominated by board products, valued at $210bn one year ago and set to be worth an additional $40bn in 2016. Next comes rigid plastic - $144bn in 2010, rising to beyond $200bn in 2016 - followed by flexible packaging material.

Future Packaging Report

Pira highlights in its future packaging report the hi-tech nature of modern-day packaging design, with biopolymers to feature more prominently both in flexible and rigid packaging types, it says.

‘This growth is being driven by a number of broad trends such as growing urbanisation, investment in housing and construction, a burgeoning healthcare sector and the rapid development still evident in the emerging economies, including China, India, Brazil and some eastern European countries', Pira reports. ‘An increase in personal disposable income in the developing regions fuels consumption across a broad range of products, with consequential growth in demand for the packaging of these goods.'

In related news, in September last year, the Consumer Goods Forum released a new report on global packaging sustainability, highlighting issues related to the design, use and disposal of packaging that can lower the industry's impact on the environment.

Image copyright US Navy

Chemicals used in certain types of food packaging can inhibit the effectiveness of routine childhood vaccines against two diseases, a new study from the US suggests.

Focusing on these two medical conditions in particular - tetanus and diphtheria - the study highlights a link between lowered immunity levels in children and the presence of PFCs (perfluorinated compounds), as found in a wide spread of packaging forms.

The link was made from research carried out in the Faroe Islands - a part of the world where marine life is widely eaten and, therefore, the level of PFC exposure is raised. Here, 587 children born over a three-year period, starting in 1999, were assessed.

PFC Chemicals: Immune Systems

Once these infants had reached five and seven years of age - the researchers looked at how immune they were to tetanus and to diphtheria and they also examined the PFC chemical levels present in their mothers.

Given that tetanus and diphtheria vaccinations are almost universally given to children, what the researchers found alerted them to a public health threat in-waiting. Where PFC exposure had taken place, the immune systems' protective antibody levels were significantly reduced.

Packaging Chemical Exposure

"The clinical importance of our findings is that PFC exposure may increase a child's risk for not being protected against diphtheria and tetanus, despite a full schedule of vaccinations", the researchers explained in their packaging chemical exposure study, adding that the immunity shortfall might be much wider than that.

PFCs come in a variety of forms: among the most widely employed are PFOA (Perfluorooctanoic Acid), PFOS (Perfluorooctane Sulfonic Acid) and PFHxS (Perfluorohexane Sulfonic Acid). These, according to the research team, figure within ‘thousands of important industrial and manufacturing applications and occur widely in surfactants and repellents in food packaging and textile impregnation.'

The new study appears in the Journal of the American Medical Association (AMA).

Image copyright Pilarek - Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

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A UK-based technology firm has teamed up with a major toy manufacturer to give an advanced new phone app its commercial launch. Named Aurasma, the app is an augmented reality 3D platform that brings to life Bandai's range of toys - Thundercats and Ben 10 figures among them.

The app gives to children the ability to basically "try before they buy", displaying in 3D how their toy will move and function. Set to provide toys with a whole new lease of packaged life, the Aurasma platform is the brainchild of the UK-based Autonomy Corporation.

Augmented reality 3D platforms display a real-life image boosted by artificial enhancements. Through recreating images it's been taught how to recognise, then layering other images and/or video footage on the top, Aurasma essentially works through memory and application.

Aurasma Augmented Reality

The Aurasma augmented reality 3D platform was first showcased in 2010 and, last spring, was released as an iPhone and an Android app. More recently, it's been exhibited at the London Toy Fair 2012, which opened on 24 January and finishes today.

In order for this technology to work, an Aurasma-enabled phone is needed, along with a special edition Bandai toy box, and the augmented reality display isn't just restricted to the point of sale.

3D Toy Packaging

‘Of course, the packaging itself continues to work as a trigger even after the toy has been purchased and taken home', Aurasma's developers explain in a company press release on the toy packaging partnership, while Managing Director, Martina King, adds: "Parents will now have to remember not to throw away the packaging which, thanks to Aurasma, looks set to become an essential part of the toy's experience and something kids keep returning to."

She continues: "Using new technology comes as second nature to kids today and whether using their parents' or their own mobile phone, this imaginative partnership between Aurasma and Bandai will delight the whole family. And best of all, because Aurasma is free to download, it means that now pocket money can be stretched just that little bit further."

Image copyright Aurasma

Two distinguished Finnish research sites have collaborated to develop a wood-based material with properties like plastic that's suitable for mass production and has many packaging applications. These include food packaging, where the material - nanofibrillated cellulose film (NFC) - can help products live longer.

Together, Aalto University and VTT Technical Research Centre have pioneered a technique allowing NFC to be produced on rolls in large quantities, something that's not been possible before.

Historically, NFC industrial-scale manufacture has been hampered by NFC's properties. ‘Nanofibrillated cellulose typically binds high amounts of water and forms gels with only a few per cent dry matter content', VTT explains in a 23 January press release. It adds: ‘In most cases, fibril cellulose films are manufactured through pressurised filtering but the gel-like nature of the material makes this route difficult. In addition, the wires and membranes used for filtering may leave a so-called "mark" on the film which has a negative impact on the evenness of the surface.'

VVT and Aalto addressed this issue by coating cellulose onto plastic film material evenly, in a process which allows careful control over the way it is spread and how it adheres.

Wood-Based Film

Then, the wood-based film material is delicately dried. The application of these well-managed processes stops the film contracting and makes it entirely even. To date, the organisations have piloted this technique using a scaled-down production model, which has generated a 2-3 metre NFC roll.

According to its developers, the technique wouldn't require packaging firms to have to purchase completely new technologies and, right now, VVT and Aalto are trying to get it patented.

In related news, Packaging International recently looked at a sustainable whey-based food film coating. The so-called Wheylayer project involves a material with environmental benefits that costs a minimal amount to make and is designed to give packaged food a longer life.

VTT Technical Research Centre is Northern Europe's largest research organisation and is 70 years old this year. It carries out research within many fields including energy, industrial systems and biochemical processes.

Copyright©VTT 2011

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Food processing firm Nestlé is continuing its work on a new type of packaging that will make its jars able to be opened by anyone, including people with impaired grip-action. Its ergonomic programme is known as ‘Inclusive Design' and originates from Nestlé's partnership with Cambridge university, established three years ago.

"Nestlé is taking a lead role in the development of this design philosophy", the firm's UK Head of Packaging, David Wiggins, explained in a company statement.

He added: "Inclusive Design allows us to move from good design to great design. It is about pioneering design that benefits all our consumers".

Nestlé Inclusive Design

Nestlé Inclusive Design tests have already been carried out in Australia involving a technology evolved by US researchers based at Atlanta's Georgia Tech Research Institute. The technology takes the form of a pair of gloves which simulate how different arms strengths are applied to jars that need undoing.

Experts at Nestlé wore these gloves and then applied them to five top-selling Nestlé products to recreate the experience as felt by arthritis sufferers and, working in tandem with Arthritis Australia, it's since established a so-called Accessibility Benchmarking Scale, which allows packaging firms to forecast how easy their designs will be to open.

Nestlé Easy-Open Packaging

In 2011, a redesigned Nestlé easy-open Nescafé Gold jar was launched incorporating changes on the packaging front, with a ‘click-and-lock' mechanism and a foil membrane that lifts off with minimal effort.

"We wanted to develop a new Nescafé Gold jar, so gaining consumer insight was the first step", Nestlé Product and Technology Centre's Philippe Domansky said. "Clearly consumers loved the shape of our existing jar; so it was a key brand asset we needed to keep. Our new jar design looks more modern, while maintaining the fundamental shape that says Nescafé Gold coffee."

Now, the same packaging philosophy is being reapplied to other products including Boost - Nestlé's US ready-to-drink brand - which has an easy-open cap and comes in easy-hold multipacks.

Image ©Nestlé

A new food packaging design has been showcased that, according to its developers, will prompt consumers to minimise the amount of food they waste.

Created by the UK's LINPAC Packaging, the design takes the form of a modular food tray that splits into components. These components allow the storage of food as individual portions, rather than one solid mass that, ultimately might not all be eaten.

Therefore, while this is a novel concept for the packaging industry, it's also got strong environmental credentials, too.

LINPAC Split-Tray Pack

Ultimately, LINPAC's split-tray packs - which incorporate a technology called MAP (Modified Atmospheric Packaging) - will give stored fridge food a longer consumer life. Modified Atmospheric Packaging involves a compositional change to the air surrounding fresh or other short-life food types. Three different gases are predominantly used: carbon dioxide, oxygen and nitrogen.

According to LINPAC Packaging, retail groups in Spain and Portugal currently have access to one initial version of its split-tray pack, which is designed to hold fresh meat. A wider European roll-out programme is scheduled for later on in 2012.

Reduced Food Waste Packaging

"The amount of food wasted every year is still too high", Alan Davey - the firm's director of innovation - explained in comments quoted by Packaging News.

In practical terms, LINPAC's reduced food waste packaging allows consumers to purchase four packaged chicken portions, use half of them and keep the remainder in the fridge, in a fully unopened state, Davey added.

He continued: "Clearly, while food waste remains such a major problem for the environment, it is essential for all the links in the food supply chain to play their part in preventing food waste. At LINPAC we are acutely aware of our role in helping consumers to minimise waste by designing innovative packaging solutions which enable them to only select the food they want to use and in maximising the shelf life of stored products in their homes."

Image copyright LINPAC Packaging

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Companies supplying Modified Atmospheric Packaging

A German-based research team has developed a way of manufacturing film coatings from whey protein in quantities large enough to make the process commercially viable.

Working at IVV - the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging - they've been striving to take a new green lead within the packaging industry by forging a sustainable material that's kind to the environment and cheap to produce.

Within a programme called the Wheylayer project, the institute's essentially replaced the petrochemical-based polymers traditionally used in film coatings with whey in a push to make food products on shelves last longer, too.

Food Film Coatings

According to IVV, packaging firms tend to use relatively high-cost petrochemical-based polymers for food film coatings, to limit the volume of oxygen that can build up. It's the presence of this oxygen that causes these products to degrade and the polymers used to counter the effect include so-called EVOH (ethylene vinyl alcohol) copolymers, which create a barrier.

The research team discovered that whey - the liquid by-product of curdled milk - acts as an oxygen barrier and, armed with this knowledge, they've rolled out a multilayered film using a range of technologies to blend whey protein with a variety of other films.

"We've managed to develop a whey protein formulation that can be used as the raw material for a film barrier layer", Markus Schmid, representing IVV, explained in a statement. "And we have also developed an economically viable process which can be used to produce the multifunctional films on an industrial scale."

Wheylayer Project

The Wheylayer project has financial support from the EU and, besides the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging, no less than 13 other organisations are also involved.

Right now, EVOH is in widespread use. The world's largest EVOH production site is Belgium's EVAL Europe facility, which opened seven years ago, while figures released by the German Society for Packaging Market Research suggest that, within Germany alone, over 640 square kilometres of materials incorporating EVOH are set to be manufactured and deployed in the year 2014. To give some indication of the volume forecast, if stretched out, these materials would fully cover Lake Constance.

Packaging International will present further coverage of this development programme as future facts emerge.

Image Copyright Fraunhofer IVV

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British retail group Marks and Spencer is introducing an advanced new packaging design for its fruit products.

According to the company, the packaging's capable of giving fridge-stored fruit a maximum of two days more life, with the result that associated waste production levels are reduced.

From now on, the inside of strawberry packaging sold in Marks and Spencer will boast the legend ‘It's Fresh', in reference to the innovation's creators. The writing will actually be on the rectangular strip that allows the fruit's lives to be extended. Eight centimetres wide, the strip is fixed to the bottom of strawberry punnets and contains a clay/mineral mix which strips the air inside of ethylene - the substance responsible for fruit decay.

Fresher Fruit Packaging

The incorporation of this freshening strip doesn't affect the punnets' recyclability one bit and it's Marks and Spencer's intention to make it a standard feature across its entire packaged fruit range. The firm's also commented that there'll be no increase in price made to account for this new fresher fruit packaging's introduction.

It's Fresh is a hi-tech British firm which, according to M&S, has provided the same technology for use in packaging used to transport items. This, though, represents its first ever appearance in a consumer product sold on retail shelves.

M&S Packaged Strawberries

"This new technology is a win-win for our customers - not only will their strawberries taste better for longer, but we really hope it will help them to reduce their food waste as they no longer need to worry about eating their strawberries as soon as they buy them", Hugh Mowat - Agronomist at Marks and Spencer - explained in a statement on the M&S packaged strawberries innovation.

Under trial conditions, this fruit life-extending strip generated a four per cent reduction in fruit waste levels and it's envisaged as an important element of the group's sustainability policy.

Recently, figures published by WRAP (the UK Government's Waste and Resources Action Programme) highlighted how, in the UK last year, retail groups achieved an overall 5.1 per cent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions linked to packaging in general. However, they only managed a 0.4 per cent decrease in actual product and packaging waste levels.

Image copyright Marks and Spencer - used for illustrative purposes only

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