Page 31 - FoodFocusThailand No.171 June 2020

SPECIAL FOCUS

biomaterials, reduced material use, and This system uses UPS to ship a variety of food, household cleaning, and personal-care
design for circularity. Package designers products in a reusable and collapsible, padded container called the Loop tote. The products
also need to take into account the different are dispensed from reusable containers, which are returned in the same reusable tote when
priorities for on-shelf vs. e-commerce empty. Some have dubbed it “the milkman model,” in a nod to the old days when milk was
products. Eye-catching package design is delivered to your doorstep in glass bottles, which were later collected, cleaned, and reused.
less vital for products sold online than in Numerous companies are also investing in initiatives and technologies to advance both
the store, but ensuring the shipped product mechanical and chemical recycling, and to develop biocompatible and compostable materials.
arrives at its destination undamaged is vital.
Advances in these areas take diverse
forms, but consider the efforts being by
CPGs to redesign the e-commerce-friendly ข้้อมููลเพิ่่�มูเติ่มู/Additional Information
and highly popular –– but largely 1 2 Dow Inc., CEO Jim Fitterling
unrecyclable –– flexible pouches to make 3 Austria’s Mondi Group
them more eco-friendly. This mostly 4 AeroFlexx, developed by Procter & Gamble Co.
involves finding a way to convert those New Jersey recycler, TerraCycle Inc. is taking a completely different approach
pouches’ multilayer, multimaterial with its Loop circular shopping platform.
constructions, which till now have been
needed to protect the contents from such
unwelcome factors such as moisture,
oxygen, and ultraviolet light, into recyclable,
mono-material structures.
Mono-material Pouches
Several advances are happening in this
area. Austria’s company , for just one
2
example, worked with several partners for
four years to develop an all-polyethyelene,
stand-up pouch for Germany’s Werner &
Mertz GmbH to use with its Frosch-brand
detergent. This patented pouch features
detachable decorative panels on both sides,
to help enable easier recycling.
Another new technology enables liquid
3
packaging in a flexible yet rigid package.
Made with coextruded flexible film, the
product leverages compressed air to inflate
specific portions of the pouch, specifically
along the edges, to bring a degree of rigidity
not otherwise possible in a flexible package.
A package uses half the plastic needed
3
to blow mold a traditional bottle and can be
delivered as roll stock to a filling facility,
meaning it is easier to ship throughout the
supply chain. In addition to significantly
reducing plastic at the source, the Chicago-
based company’s vision is to be 100%
recycle ready by 2025.
Loop Platform Touts Reusability
New Jersey recycler , meanwhile, is taking
4
a completely different approach with its
circular shopping platform. This platform
has gained support from many of the world’s
best-known brands, ranging from Unilever,
PepsiCo, and Nestlé to Danone, Procter &
Gamble, and UPS.

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