Food Marketing & Technology - India May 2019 | Page 12

Silver is the New Green When talking recycling and packaging we tend to think primarily of plastic. PET bottles have had a lot of bad press lately, since they last for ever. Of course a solution is to collect them and make new bottles and other new products, but collecting is a subject in itself, especially in Africa and some Asian countries. Another popular container is on the way back – the can. Aluminium is easily recycled with almost no quality loss and has a high collection value. Advantages include strength and many optic and haptic features in design and marketing potential. The first thing a consumer sees when looking to purchase a product is the package. Cans capture consumer interest like nothing else, since they reflect light and have a very attractive feel. Modern producers use innovations such as 360° embossing, printed ends and colours than shine in the dark or change according to temperature differences. This can be used by skillful marketeers to offer maximum visual impact and achieve increased brand recognition and other benefits. For consumers there is an unbeatable chilling benefit, since cans are quickly cooled and hold their temperature for longer than other packages. Cans also have advantages in logistics, carbon footprint and are unbreakable. Two-piece beverage cans came from the USA to Europe in the 1970s and early 1980s and proved cheaper and more competitive than the three-piece existing containers from tin plate or steel. Modern cans are very lightweight and are affordable. Cans are traditionally a single serve package. Whether tall and sleek for energy drinks, larger for beer or highly recognisable for soft drinks, they are usually emptied and disposed of straightaway. A new development with a screw top is also possible, where the neck is smaller and made through a different process, giving new options to fillers and beverage producers who seek the benefits of glass bottles, but want the potential of aluminium. In Germany the can is coming back. Beer is mostly sold in glass bottles, but is now increasingly available in cans as consumers recognise the benefits of recycling, design and that special cold taste. Other products are following this lead. Cheers Benno Keller keller@ harnisch.com The changing lifestyle and food consumption patterns have increased the everyday demand for packaged food products. The growth in the overall use of packaging in our daily lives has an impact on the amount of waste that is being generated. The waste that cannot be reused or recycled ends up in landfills where it is left to rot for many years. Various surveys claim that the packaging alone is responsible for approximately one-third of the world’s total garbage. As the world’s annual consumption of plastic materials has increased from the 1950s until today by approximately 225 million tonnes. This has raised a big concern among the packaging manufacturers and researchers. They are continuously making efforts to develop packages that can be recycled, in order to reduce the amount of waste. Also, the issues pertaining to sustainability, environment, ethics, food safety, and food quality are coming to the forefront over the last decade. As the conventional food packaging materials have certain limitations in terms of their environmental pollution impact, sustainability, and in their manufacturing requirements for non-renewable resources, the need for alternative packaging materials and packaging formats is now being felt more than ever. There is an urgent need to create biodegradable materials or materials that can be recycled. The latest trend which is driving the food packaging industry is that, wherever possible, the packaging should not only be natural and ‘environmentally friendly’, but it should also be cost-effective and with low carbon and water footprint. Recent developments in the area of edible/biodegradable films/coatings for effective food packaging have generated considerable interest in the food industry. They are now more preferred due to their potential to reduce and/or replace conventional, non-biodegradable plastics. However, the commercial production and application of them are still undergoing research, but the potential that edible/ biodegradable films possess is now being realised! Happy Reading! Ian D. Healey [email protected] Linda Brady Hawke [email protected]