Packaging news and development round-up

Wood pulp bottles set for industrial production​

Renewable packaging provider Stora Enso has partnered Diageo research and development venture Pulpex to industrialise the production of eco-friendly paper bottles and containers made from wood fibre pulp.

The partnership aims at large-scale industrial production of renewable and recyclable paper bottles and containers that degrade readily in the natural environment.

Using Stora Enso’s formed fiber material, Pulpex will produce paper bottles for an array of global brands across a variety of market applications, including alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and liquid foods.

Stora Enso said that its wood fiber pulp comes from sustainable, verified sources. The customizable Pulpex bottle allows for embossing, labelling and coloured pigments to fit brand needs and easily integrates into any packaging manufacturer’s existing filling infrastructure.

Scott Winston, director at Pulpex, said “We are delighted to have Stora Enso involved with Pulpex and are looking forward to the tangible benefits of such a formidable collaboration that will undoubtedly help us over the coming months as we seek to make our new, high-speed production lines available to all our partners.”​

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Biodegradable heat shrink film launched​

A new commercially compostable alternative to common plastic shrink wraps has been launched by packaging and films producer Cortec Corporation.

EcoShrink Compostable Film is sourced from certified commercially compostable resins and contains 45% biopolymers. After use, the film can be disposed of in a commercial composting environment to reduce the amount of plastic packaging that ends up in a landfill.

Designed for standard heat-shrinking applications, EcoShrink can be used to shrink wrap small or large components as normal to conform to the shape of the object. The product is shelf- and curb-stable and is designed to retain its integrity until disposed of properly.

Packaging waste reform criticised ​

Packaging design and innovation investment is now at risk due to the UK government’s Extended Producer responsibility (EPR) reforms, warned packaging data specialist Ecoveritas.

Should these reforms be implemented, available budgets for developing effective, sustainable and minimal waste packaging would ‘evaporate’, according to Ecoveritas chief executive David-Harding Brown.

The policy extends the producer’s responsibility for a product to include the management of its packaging post-consumer use, shifting waste management costs to the manufacturers.

“This is an industry that has been under pressure for just doing its job for many years now,”​ said Brown. “In recent times, the industry has had to deal with the EU Plastics Packaging Levy, a UK Plastics Packaging Tax, the continual threat of a DRS system, a huge increase in Packaging Recovery Note (PRN) costs and the implications of a global pandemic. ​

“The principle behind the EPR consultation is that ‘the polluter pays’, but for a truly collaborative approach, the system has to be fair and sustainable.”​

Brown called for a system that recognised the expertise already available in the industry to tackle sustainability challenges and that acknowledged that pushing costs onto manufacturers would not solve issues related to consumer waste.

Snack maker improves weighing speeds​

German snack producer Wurzener Nahrungsmittel has improved weighing speeds by 75% and almost eliminated product giveaway through the installation of three new Ishida systems.

The high-performance Ishida integrated Total Packaging Systems (ITPS) are part of three new packing lines for Wurzener’s range of extruded corn snacks.

The ITPS is a fully integrated snack food packing system which combines a multihead weigher from the high-performance CCW-RV series with the Ishida Inspira, a bagmaker specifically developed for snack foods. Both machines are seamlessly integrated and operated via a single control panel.

The Ishida multihead weighers can complete many more weighing cycles than Wurzener’s previous volumetric system. For a standard 150g bag, the weighing speed has been increased from 60 to more than 100 weighments a minute.

“The significant improvement in accuracy is also important to us​,” said managing director Stefan Kuhl, explaining that overfilling has been dramatically cut from 7.5% to almost zero.

Multivac reveals new chamber belt machine​

Packaging machinery supplier Multivac has revealed the latest addition to its range of chamber belt machines, the B 425.

Aimed at food processing companies, the new model is particularly suitable for the automated packaging of sausage, ham, bacon, fresh meat, fish and cheese in film pouches.

The B 425 has 1,300 mm long sealing bar that makes it possible to load many products. Multivac claimed it could accommodate more products per shift than on the larger and supposedly higher-output chamber belt machines.

The system features a compact design to meet the needs of space-starved manufacturers.