In today's global trend of compliance with green environmental protection, the word "sustainable" is believed to have been heard by everyone more or less many times, it is no longer just a policy and guidance for the country's livelihood, but has gradually become a "fairy stick" for the brand to feed the economic market. As society becomes more aware of the drawbacks of non-renewable materials such as plastics, the concept of sustainability continues to permeate the food and beverage packaging industry.
Sustainable food packaging needs to meet not only the market's basic requirements for cost and performance, but also the criteria of being environmentally safe and beneficial throughout its life cycle, from front-end sourcing to back-end disposal. A report on the top five trends in health by 2022, released by the U.S. food industry company Presence, includes sustainable packaging, and its research shows that more and more consumers are becoming concerned about the environmental impact of food packaging and are actively choosing to buy products with environmentally conscious packaging. International consulting firm Accenture's 2022 consumer survey also shows that more than 50% of consumers worldwide are willing to pay a premium for sustainable packaging.
Driven by both social sustainability goals and consumer environmentalism, the sustainable packaging market is expanding. According to survey data released by Presence, the use of recyclable containers in the global packaging supply chain increased 23 percent over last year, with aseptic cartons up 9 percent and glass up 2 percent. Reportlinker, an international market research firm, also released a forecast that the global sustainable food packaging market is expected to grow from $196.26 billion in 2021 to $211.56 billion in 2022, at a compound annual growth rate of 7.8%; by 2026 the market size will reach $280.1 billion, at a compound annual growth rate of 7.3% during the period.
Heineken: Low carbon glass bottle
In March 2021, the Heineken Group announced a scientific study on the production of low-carbon glass in collaboration with the non-profit organization Glass Futures and the supplier ENCRC. In this study, biofuels will be used instead of traditional natural gas, and bottle recycling will be increased to 100% to produce low carbon bottles. It is reported that through this low-carbon production method, for every 10% increase in recycled glass, 5% of carbon emissions in the production process can be reduced. The trial is still in its early stages, and the first batch is planned to produce 1.4 million bottles of Heineken beer.
Budweiser: "Ultra-low carbon" aluminum cans
Another beer giant, Budweiser, has also taken note of the low-carbon packaging market, producing 5 million "ultra-low carbon" Budweiser aluminum cans with a 440 ml/per bottle content on a pilot basis in the UK in 2021. According to Budweiser Brewing Group, the British subsidiary of Budweiser, the carbon footprint of producing "ultra-low carbon" aluminum cans is the lowest Budweiser can produce in Europe, about 95 percent lower than ordinary aluminum cans, using a newly developed "inert anode aluminum technology" and renewable electricity to power the beer. Maurico Coindreau, Head of Sourcing and Sustainability at Budweiser International, said the new "ultra-low carbon" aluminum cans look and feel exactly the same as the current model, but are infinitely recyclable, offering consumers a truly low-carbon, sustainable future.
Golden Classic: 0 aluminum foil low-carbon sterile paper-based laminated packaging
In December 2021, Kingdene launched the first "0 aluminum foil low-carbon aseptic paper-based" composite packaging in China, aiming to increase the proportion of renewable ingredients in the packaging materials of organic milk products and advocate low-carbon organic life with practical actions. It is reported that the traditional aseptic paper-based composite packaging package structure using aluminum foil as a barrier layer to achieve the role of light, oxygen and water blocking. As the "upgraded" aseptic paper-based packaging developed by SIG Combibloc, the "0 aluminum foil low-carbon aseptic paper-based" packaging not only has a patented and innovative packaging structure, but also uses a new barrier layer instead of aluminum foil, which perfectly protects the contents while also reducing the carbon footprint to a large extent. The carbon footprint of the packaging was certified by the CEC authority of the China Environment Joint Certification Center as having a reduction rate of 41.8%.
Thus, in response to the global call for sustainable environmental concepts and to counteract the use of such raw materials at source, beverage bottles began to shed their superfluous packaging, and "no-labeling" was born. Label-free beverages, as the name implies, are bottles that are no longer labeled with brand logos and product-related information. Removing the label reduces both the use of plastic in the production process and simplifies the recycling of materials while also reducing the recycling process.
For the practice of "tear off the label", many brands are most concerned about reducing the recognition of their own products, will not be able to product highlights to reach consumers first. But in fact, according to 2021 consumer data released by Innova Market Insights, 57% of consumers worldwide say that when a familiar brand changes its packaging design appropriately, it instead attracts their attention more. Recently, many brands at home and abroad have begun to "de-label" and have received a good response.
Master Kong: unlabeled PET bottles
On March 3, 2022, Master Kong brand side released the first label-free PET bottle packaging with low-carbon and environmental protection concept at the Carbon Reduction and Environmental Sustainability Forum, applied to two classic products - lemon flavored iced tea and sugar-free version of iced tea. The new packaging removes the original flowery plastic labels, distinguishing flavors only by the yellow and black caps, and basic information such as product names and production dates are engraved on the bottles through laser printing technology, ensuring the transparency of product information.
Pepsi: "No bottle label"
On March 22, Pepsi China's official microblogging site also announced that the first "no-bottle-label" Pepsi will be available soon. This innovation still retains the classic blue cap of Pepsi, but the plastic label and ink printing are removed from the bottle and cap respectively, and the "Pepsi PEPSI" and round logo are presented in relief on the bottle, and the product name and shelf life information are also printed using laser technology.
Starbucks: Crumb Cup
Starbucks, the world's largest coffee chain, consumes about 20 or more coffee beans per espresso, in other words the more coffee sold each day the more coffee grounds will be produced. Normally, coffee grounds are discarded directly, but with the daily popularization of coffee drinks, large areas of coffee grounds waste can easily cause environmental pollution. So, Starbucks, which has always been committed to green, decided to put a little thought into the coffee grounds. It is understood that in the future, Starbucks will also regularly launch limited coffee environmental peripherals, such as coffee grounds coasters, coffee grounds soap, etc. In fact, looking deeper, the use of coffee grounds is much more than that. Industry sources say that in the future, coffee grounds are expected to become a new generation of environmentally friendly renewable energy with good economic benefits.
Golden Dawn: "A bottle cap made of sugar cane"
On the day of World Environment Day 2021, Kingdene released the "Sugarcane Bottle Cap" linked to Tetra Pak's Plant-Based Dream, making Kingdene Organic Milk the first product in China to use the sugarcane plant-based cap.
This plant-based bottle cap is made from sugar cane grown in southeastern Brazil. After harvest, the cane is crushed and the juice collected, then fermented and distilled to obtain ethanol, which is then polymerized into polyethylene. This "sugarcane polyethylene" has the same properties as regular polyethylene, producing a plant-based cap that has nearly the same appearance and sealability as a regular cap, but with a much lower carbon footprint.
The use of plant-based caps reduces the use of petroleum-based plastics and avoids the release of a range of harmful gases during their production, while plant-based caps are renewable and can be reused through existing recycling systems, contributing to environmental sustainability.
Coca-Cola: 100% plant-based plastic bottles
In February 2022, Coca-Cola launched its first plastic bottle made from 100% plant-based plastic, marking an important breakthrough in the development of the company's sustainable packaging. It is understood that the level of technology of Coca-Cola has met the standards of mass production, and has produced a limited number of about 900 plastic bottles made of this material.
Coca-Cola has committed to equal recycling of empty bottles by 2030, which means all old bottles will be recycled and made into raw materials for the production of new bottles. Coca-Cola is also committed to making its beverage packaging from 100 percent recycled materials and ensuring that 50 percent of its packaging materials come from recyclables.
Despite the current limited research and development of environmentally friendly packaging technology, but through the above examples can be seen, sustainable is no longer just lip service to the concept, has gradually formed a real implementation of the ground. I believe that in the near future, sustainable food packaging will appear more frequently in the public eye, but of course this will also need to condense the joint efforts of each and every one of us. Let's look forward to a sustainable green future together!
