Trilogy of environmental protection in food industry: renewable, replaceable and recyclable
How far away is the global food industry from us? Recently, Tetra Pak launched a new paper straw in Europe, which will be used in two children's drinks and dairy products. The straw is made of FSC certified paper and can be recycled with the rest of the package. If Europe is far away from the other side of the earth, let's take another example close to us - in the context of the "plastic ban", South Korea started to promote a straw made of 70% rice and 30% cassava last year, with a monthly output of 300 million roots.
Photo source: Foodbev
Not only straws, we can see that the global food and beverage packaging in recent years are trying to more environmentally friendly packaging. Coca Cola, Pepsi, Nestle, Unilever The food giants have each assumed the responsibility of "saving the earth". After applauding for them, we can't help thinking:
How much is the responsibility of environmental protection of packaging? What are the difficulties facing the industry? How can our food enterprises and packaging enterprises contribute?
01. Plastic waste is "occupying" the ocean, and environmental protection of packaging has a long way to go
A few days ago, CCTV News reported that the deep sea warrior manned submersible first exposed a huge garbage dump on the sea floor - a large number of plastic bags were floating in the deep sea of nearly 2000 meters, and the seabed was covered with garbage. But it's just the tip of the iceberg.
According to the data of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), more than 8 million tons of plastics enter the ocean every year, causing damage to the marine ecosystem of up to 8 billion US dollars every year. "It is estimated that by 2050, there will be more plastic in the ocean than in fish," said Espinosa, President of the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly. Micro plastics have been found in salt and fresh water. It is believed that there is plastic in every human body on earth. " [1]
Percentage of consumers willing to pay higher premium for recyclable packaging products, source: Euromonitor International
Tetra Pak said in its 2018 sustainable development report: "the global anti plastic trend is expanding and rising, especially in recent years, the issue of marine pollution has attracted much attention. We think it is imperative to solve the problem of plastic waste. "
Environmental protection is gradually becoming the basic attribute of packaging as a container, which can increase the added value of packaging and products and enhance the brand image. According to the top 10 global consumption trends in 2019 released by Euromonitor, a market research company, more and more consumers are willing to pay premium for recyclable packaging. In the future, if enterprises want to win the recognition of consumers, they need to take necessary measures for the environmental protection of packaging.
In the article we published last year, we mentioned "the seven-year agreement of food giants". Pepsi, Danone, Coca Cola and other food enterprises have all joined in the "new plastic economy", jointly promoting the recovery rate of global plastic packaging to 70%, and promised to realize packaging environmental protection by 2025.
02. Environmental protection packaging is not only a matter for food giants, but also an inevitable trend for all employees to participate
In the public perception, environmental protection packaging seems to be just a public welfare behavior beyond the giants' spare power. For ordinary food and beverage enterprises, environmental protection packaging often means "high cost, low return".
Limited by technology, scale and other conditions, the price of environmental protection packaging materials is relatively expensive, and the use of environmental protection packaging does not seem to get a digital intuitive return. For ordinary enterprises, it is more like a "loss trading". Therefore, despite the leading role of food giants, the environmental protection of packaging in the food and beverage industry still has a long way to go.
On the way of environmental protection of packaging, in addition to food giants, packaging companies also play an important role. We interviewed Tetra Pak, a well-known global food packaging enterprise, and hope to bring some thoughts to the food and beverage industry from the perspective of the global packaging market.
Tetra Pak environmental protection packaging uses FSC certified paper material, photo source: 3bl
In this regard, Tetra Pak believes that not all environmental protection elements of packaging mean increased cost, especially in ecological design. Like other innovative technologies, the high cost of environmental protection packaging is often due to the cost of research and development or the fact that new materials and equipment have not yet achieved scale efficiency.
From the global trend, the environmental protection of packaging tends to become the basic attribute of packaging beyond the protection of product quality, and has been reflected in the legal norms of many countries, including the European Union, such as the introduction of the European Union's bill on restrictions on disposable plastic packaging. From this point of view, in the future, regardless of the size of enterprises, the environmental protection of packaging will become a necessary condition.
Since the environmental protection of packaging will become the basic attribute of packaging, what is the biggest challenge to promote the environmental protection of packaging? What aspects of the future are worthy of attention or investment?
Tetra Pak believes that the environmental protection of packaging faces many challenges, and technology is one of them. From the research and development of new materials to the design of packaging, we need the support of new technology, which also requires the participation and investment of the whole industrial chain.
In the future, to promote the environmental protection of packaging, from the exploitation and use of raw materials, product design, production and operation, logistics and transportation, and even the recycling and reuse of post consumer packaging, all should be operated around reducing the impact on the environment, and strive to achieve a low-carbon circular economy.
In addition to the improvement of consumers' awareness of environmental protection and the improvement of national laws and policies, Tetra Pak also summarizes several directions worthy of attention of food enterprises and packaging enterprises.
Upstream Innovation: develop environment-friendly new materials and expand their application to reduce production energy consumption;
Packaging design: reduce the use of materials, clearly show the environmental protection properties on the packaging, which is helpful for recycling after classification;
Packaging recovery: adopt recyclable packaging, and effectively improve the recycling rate of packaging.
03. Global environmental protection packaging action, starting from these three things
1. Can sugarcane also be used as plastic? Environmental protection black technology brings subversive innovation
As mentioned above, technology is the difficulty of environmental protection packaging, but also the biggest breakthrough to promote environmental protection packaging.
In 2014, Tetra Pak has launched the world's first fully recycled raw material packaging - Tetra Pak biomass packaging, which is made of biomass plastic extracted from sugarcane and cardboard from sustainable forest management. As of the beginning of 2018, more than 500 million products have been packaged with Tetra Pak biomass.
In 2016, Tetra Pak launched the upgraded 1-liter Tetra Pak aseptic packaging, which is the first aseptic packaging consisting of plastic film polymerized from sugarcane extract and open cover, plus the cardboard used, the proportion of renewable raw materials in the whole packaging is more than 80%.
Candia is a brand of sodiaal, a French dairy giant, which recently launched organic milk using sig aluminum free carton package signature pack 100. Signature pack 100 is the world's only aluminum free aseptic packaging box containing polymer of plant-based renewable materials, which can not only protect milk, but also guarantee the expected shelf life of French UHT milk without aluminum barrier layer. By removing the aluminum layer and using plant-based polymers, the carbon footprint of this package is 58% lower than that of a standard sig box package.
Danone, Nestle waters and origin materials co founded the naturall bolt alliance to produce bio based pet plastic bottles using 100% sustainable and renewable materials, such as cardboard and sawdust. Coca Cola's plant-based PET plastic bottle transforms the natural sugar in plants into PET raw materials.
2. Get rid of plastic: less, less
In fact, technological innovation does not come from the reform of material sources. Sometimes a small inspiration in design can bring about a big change.
Corona, a beer brand, recently launched a new type of can with Rio Bernard, Mexico. A new spiral ring was added on the top and bottom of the can. Consumers only need to tighten the cans vertically to each other, and then they can take them directly. The plastic package that covers the beer will not be used at all.
Federico Russi, chief creative officer of Rio Bernard, Mexico, has high hopes for the "fit pack" package - "our dream is to expand fit packs to every can of corona and even other brands around the world."
Unilever's solero ice cream has been experimenting with a new package - a composite package with fewer wrappers - in a limited number of ocado products since June 17.
The built-in compartment enables individual ice cream to be independent of each other, without the need for additional plastic wrapping paper. Compared with traditional ice cream, the use of plastic can be reduced by 35%. The box is made of polyethylene coated cardboard, which can be widely recycled in the UK.
Aquafina, a brand of Pepsi Cola, will provide pure water packed in aluminum cans in American retail stores, completely get rid of plastic and avoid a lot of plastic waste. Although aluminum will also be polluted in the production process, recycling aluminum can save 95% energy.
3. 100% recyclable. Can the recycled plastic bottle be made into clothes again?
In addition to reducing the application of plastic, improving the recovery rate of plastic packaging is also an important measure to relieve the pressure of plastic.
Change of recycling rate of PET bottles in Japan, America and Europe, photo source: Japan PET bottle recycling Promotion Agreement
When it comes to garbage sorting and recycling, Japan is one of the earlier and more mature countries in the world. According to the data of Japan PET bottle recycling Promotion Agreement, in 2017, the recycling rate of PET bottles in Japan reached 84.8%, far higher than 41.8% in Europe and 20.9% in the United States. This not only depends on the consciousness of the people, but also the attention of food and beverage enterprises to PET bottles.
Since June this year, Kirin, a well-known Japanese beverage company, has launched decaf (decaf) for raw tea, which uses 100% recycled PET resin bottles. Kirin Group formulated the plastic policy in February this year, and plans to increase the proportion of recycled resin used in Japanese products to 50% by 2027, so as to promote the recycling of plastic bottle resources.
In Japan, there is a special pet bottle trash can at the door of the convenience store. Coca Cola in Japan saw a new environmental protection opportunity from the PET bottle trash can in the convenience store: from recycling PET bottles in the convenience store to recycling into new products, new products continue to be put into the convenience store, so as to create a complete recycling loop, so as to improve the enthusiasm of consumers to participate in recycling.
So "one green tea one day one book" was born. This is a green tea drink launched by Coca Cola and 7 & I holdings in Japan. It has been sold in 21400 retail stores under 7 & I holdings since June 10, including 7-Eleven, ITO Yokado, etc. It is the first pet bottle beverage in the world to be collected in a specific retail store and re sold in the same retail store.
Is there any other way to recycle PET bottles besides recycling them into new PET bottles?
According to the introduction of Japan PET bottle recycling Promotion Agreement, the recycled PET bottles can be converted into plate products, fiber products or stationery. The PET bottle after drinking can be made into clothes. According to the expert committee of China Plastics Association, 98% of plastic bottles in Beijing have been recycled, and the recycled bottles mainly flow to the textile industry [2].
Tetra Pak has also turned littering from an obligation to a pleasure. Tetra Pak of Japan and 7 & I holding have cooperated to launch a paper container recycling box based on Internet of things technology since June. Throw the used paper container into the recycling box, and you can get points on your mobile phone in real time. The points can plant forests and feed small animals in a special app. Imagine throwing a milk box and seeing a small tree appear in the mobile phone. Isn't it interesting and decompression?
In the Chinese market, Tetra Pak has been cooperating with recycling enterprises since 2006 to support the construction and process improvement of its recycling capacity. By the end of 2018, there have been eight enterprises specialized in the recycling of paper-based composite packaging of dairy drinks after consumption in Beijing, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong, Sichuan, Fujian, Guangdong and other places, with the recycling capacity reaching more than 200000 tons, initially forming a recycling value chain with a wide coverage of recycling network and gradually mature processing technology.
Combined with the gradual implementation of garbage sorting and recycling in the country, we believe that the recovery rate of food and beverage packaging in China will continue to improve in the future.
04, conclusion
Coca Cola has launched a recycling campaign with an impressive slogan: "if you don't help us recycle, don't buy Coca Cola.". More and more enterprises in the food and beverage industry are beginning to realize the pain brought by human activities to the planet and are trying to remedy it.
Arctic sea ice is shrinking, sea level is accelerating, we are suffering more extreme weather When the sky is gray and the river is dirty, we are frightened to find that the earth is overdrawn and eating back in the insatiable demand.
Environmental protection of packaging is the way we must go, and it is imminent.
About food packaging
Food packaging is an integral part of food products. One of the main projects in the process of food industry. It can protect food and prevent the damage of biological, chemical and physical external factors in the process of food circulation from leaving the factory to consumers. It can also maintain the stable quality of food itself. It is convenient for food consumption, and it is the first to show the external view of food, attract the image of consumption, and has the value beyond material cost.
