As of today, the Ma-Vi trade group can offer its customers an innovative eco-friendly packaging solution, completely degradable for the packaging of grated cheese.
The European strategy to fight plastic
Last December, the European Parliament definitively approved a new directive aimed at drastically reducing marine pollution and single-use plastics.
By 2021, member states will be required to ban a series of single-use plastic items that alone account for 70% of waste at sea.
The new regulation also establishes that by 2025, 25% of plastic bottles must be made from recycled materials, a quota that will rise to 30% by 2030.
Source: EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Single-use plastics: new EU rules to reduce marine litter, 2018
Plastic and pollution
Plastic decomposes slowly, accumulating in the seas, oceans and beaches throughout Europe and the world.
Numerous microplastics are found in marine species and consequently in the human food chain.
The goal should be to support safer and more sustainable consumption and production models.
Francois de Bie, President of European Bioplastic, reiterated the need to move from a linear to a circular economy, and how certified compostable plastics provide a valid solution in this transition.
Compostable plastic, in fact, meets strict European health and safety requirements and standards and can be recycled following organic circuits together with food waste.
The 13th European Bioplastics Conference held last December in Berlin also brought these materials to the maximum attention of the audience present.
The intense debate on the future of plastic has created many opportunities to facilitate the transition towards the use of more sustainable materials.
Many solutions for sustainable packaging
Food is a fundamental part of our lives.
It is so important that today our eating habits have changed considerably:
- We buy organic or local products
- We favor seasonal consumption
- We support small production realities
Yet, on the shelves, we find products wrapped in additional and difficult-to-recycle packaging.
One solution is represented by the so-called compostable packaging, a new type of packaging that is decidedly more ecological than plastic and completely eco-friendly.
This type of packaging exploits the latest scientific technologies developed in the field of material transformation and food waste, to obtain biocompatible plastic coatings.
Many are obtained through a revaluation of waste from the food industry, for example, they are produced starting from the peel of peppers and tomatoes or from the waste of legumes or tubers.
They are processed to obtain a biodegradable bioplastic derived from vegetable raw materials which, unlike traditional plastic, does not pollute, respecting the environment.
Currently, bioplastics represent only about 1% of plastics produced every year in Europe (about 300 million tons). But demand is increasing and with more sophisticated materials, applications and emerging products, the market is growing rapidly.
CONAI establishes a differentiated contribution for plastic
All companies that purchase and resell packaged goods are obliged to register with CONAI.
CONAI, National Packaging Consortium, is a private Consortium that operates non-profit and is a system that constitutes the response of private companies to a problem of collective interest, such as environmental, in compliance with guidelines and objectives set by the political system. Over 850,000 packaging producing and using companies are members of the Consortium System.
For each packaging material, the CONAI/Supply Chain Consortia system has established an Environmental Contribution, which constitutes the form of financing to distribute among producers and users the costs for the greater expenses relating to separate collection and for the recovery and recycling of packaging.
The purpose is to encourage the use of more recyclable packaging, linking the contribution level to the environmental impact of the end-of-life/new-life phases. CONAI has chosen to start the diversification of the environmental contribution starting from the most complex material due to the variety of types and selection and recycling technologies. Since 2012, some incentives have already been introduced for reusable packaging used within controlled circuits that are particularly virtuous from an environmental point of view.
Source: http://www.conai.org/imprese/contributo-ambientale/contributo-diversificato-plastica/
New compostable film for MAP packaging
Ma-Vi trade, which has long been attentive to environmental and innovation issues, has invested energy and resources in order to propose a new range of packaging, which better suited the needs of its customers in terms of sustainability, shelf life and safety.
Thanks to the shared commitment with our leading partner in the packaging of grated cheese in Treviso, we can now add to our proposals a new line of grated Grana Padano dressed in the innovative.
COMPOSTABLE film for MAP barrier, OK COMPOST INDUSTRIAL certified
It is an innovative packaging, suitable for separate collection, organic waste, which leaves no trace at the end of its life.
An eco-friendly solution that represents an added value in terms of communication to the final consumer for a market that increasingly demands attention to the environment.
The film, produced by SDR PACK, has obtained the OK COMPOST INDUSTRIAL certification in accordance with the EN 13432 standard and has been subjected to numerous shelf life tests in order to guarantee its safety.
All tests carried out were successful, allowing us to present the new range of grated cheese with a guaranteed shelf life of 120 days.
A perfect example of how packaging can represent an added value in the choice of product and enhance it by sharing its values and strengthening its communication.
Watch the video and discover what happens to the compostable film once it has been used and placed in an industrial composting plant.
Future prospects – using less and less plastic
Our work does not stop here.
The next challenge is represented by the acquisition of the vacuum skin packaging system with cardboard support for our portioned cheeses.
It is a packaging model developed by Sealed Air and G. Mondini that received the 2018 World Dairy Innovation Award in the Best Manufacturing & Innovation Process category.
It is an award that celebrates the excellence and innovation achieved by a cutting-edge company in every category of the dairy industry.
It is a packaging model that uses an innovative and patented technology that eliminates film waste while increasing productivity.
Since the flat support is less bulky than the trays normally used in modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) this system allows to considerably reduce transport and storage space up to 80% and allows the final consumer to responsibly dispose of the material and conveniently recycle the cardboard.
Furthermore, preservation is extended, potentially allowing retailers to reduce food waste.
In the images the first prototypes of our cheeses packaged with the Cryovac Darfresh vacuum packaging system.