Page 25 - Packaging News Magazine Sep-Oct 2018

September-October 2018
www.packagingnews.com.au
COVER STORY
25
WHY ECOLEAN HAS THE EDGE
ECOLEAN’S stand-up pouches make it easier for dairy and beverage producers to increase visibility and stand out on store shelves, according to the company.
Ecolean was founded in 1996 in Helsing- borg, Sweden, with the concept of minimising raw material use to produce a flexible, lightweight package, so reducing environmental impact and saving resources.
Marketing director Anna Annerås says Ecolean’s packaging solutions follow its philosophy of “a lighter world”.
“That goes for the manufacturing of innovative packaging systems for the dairy and liquid food industry – including packaging material, packaging, and filling machines for both ambient and chilled distribution – but also in the way we conduct our business,” she said.
“By using a minimal amount of raw material, we create a lightweight package with a low environmental impact. And by keeping an open mind towards everyone we meet, we strive to make our business relations as ‘light’ as possible.”
Ecolean’s headquarters, manufacturing and development sites are located in Sweden, but there is also manufacturing in China and commercial activities in 30 countries.
Currently, the largest markets are China, Russia, Europe and Pakistan.
“Being an innovative company with a global outlook requires local presence,” Annerås says.
“The ANZ region is no exception. Since 2017, the office in Sydney covers the region, with sales manager Mark Easton leading the way.
But Ecolean’s presence in Australia stretches back far earlier than 2017.
“Bannister Downs Dairy, one of Ecolean’s longest partnerships, is a good example of the progressive brands eager to see the differentiation effects of their products with Ecolean’s lightweight, innovative, and modern packages,” she says.
“We have installed a fully automat- ed processing system that has been custom-engineered to meet our prod- uct quality priority, and includes Ecolean filling lines,” Daubney said.
“We’ve been planning it since 2011, and we started site works in Septem- ber 2016 for the greenfields project.
“Our location has created some challenges as we are 400 kilometres from Perth, however, the benefits of the wonderful environment we enjoy far outweigh any of these challenges.
“It was a rather complex construc- tion project, and managing the in- stallation and commissioning of each element of the equipment was very involved.”
A De Laval automatic milking ro- tary (AMR) system capable of han- dling 540 cows three times a day will supplement the existing dairy, which is operating at capacity.
The Australian subsidiary of Ger- man manufacturer GEA Group has installed low-temperature pasteuris- ing and processing equipment, and the production side of the building includes cool room storage and prod- uct dispatch facilities.
NEW LINES ON THE CARDS
Initially Bannister Downs will focus on its 10 main product lines and maxi- mising their production capacity.
“There is room for more lines, but I think it would only be some addition- al flavoured milks that we’d consider at this stage,” Daubney said.
The company currently processes
5-6 million litres in volume per an- num, and anticipates three or four- fold growth in the future.
“The two EL1 filling machines fill up to 2900 packages per hour and our EL2+ fills up to 12,000 packages per hour,” Daubney said.
What’s next for Bannister Downs? Currently, the company is focused on settling into its new facility and getting all its internal systems, pro- cesses and team operating optimally. After that, it will look at growing production volumes for new market opportunities.
“At this stage we will be spending all of September introducing the first herd of our dairy cows to the site as we start commissioning the milking robot system,” Daubney said. ■
BELOW: MD Suzanne Daubney with Ecolean’s Jens Olofsson.
BOTTOM: Ecolean’s EL1 and EL2 filling lines at Bannister Downs combined
fill close on 14,000 packs per hour.