Page 43 - Packaging News Magazine July-Aug 2020

July-August 2020 | www.packagingnews.com.au | FLEXIBLES UPDATE
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plastic) with new product delivered to them in the reusable, recycled plastic pouches.
Ansell says using the flexible plas- tic packaging to transport the product refills helps Zero Co towards its goal of being carbon-neutral, as they are lightweight, which lessens the envi- ronmental impact of the delivery- based service. “Zero Co’s model is based on the transportation to and from consumers’ homes. They aim to be carbon-neutral, while eliminating as much plastic waste from landfill as possible. Using reusable pouches decreases production and delivery emissions in comparison with rigid alternatives,” she says.
Foster says making the reusable pouches out of recycled plastic was a significant challenge, particularly because the pouches are made out of two or three layers.
“One thing that is very important when working with sustainable options is the whole packaging hier- archy,” he says.
“Product protection is key, product security is also key, and shelf-life of product, and barrier performance are also very important.”
CONVENIENCE FOR PETS
As with everything in these modern times, the pet food market is fast mov- ing into e-commerce, and in e-com- merce,thelighterthepackagethebet- ter. Fetched Co launched its first dog food product into the e-commerce marketplace recently, delivering serve-sized packet dog food to cus- tomers’ homes.
O.F provided a flexo-print mono- polymer film for packing the pet food product, eliminating the need for complex multi-laminate film, and is also produced locally at O.F’s Carrum Downs facility.
Ansell says pet food packaging has become a major market for O.F.
“It’s a market that probably hasn’t has as much innovation as it should, considering it doesn’t have many of the challenges that human food has,” she says.
“In terms of actual packaging for- mats, it’s not difficult to make for pet food. What was important was that it was made from a single-polymer
film, as opposed to a multi-lami- nate, so it was easily recyclable. Also, we needed to make it as light as possible.
“And, the dog food bag had to run on their existing form- fill-seal machine, the same as their multi-laminate. So there were some testing and tri-
als to ensure it per- formed well.”
Foster says the bags had to hold up to rough handling, as well.
“The big bags, partic- ularly, go through some heavy-duty handling as well, so we had to make sure the recycled mate- rial we’re using is going to handle the same abuse as a conventional bag,” he says.
“You need to be able to
take a 10 or 15-kilo bag and throw it into the boot of a car without worry- ing that it will split.”
EXTENDED FUNCTIONALITY
After the success of O.F’s ovenable pouch for meat and fish prod- ucts, and a specialty
steaming pouch, the
company has been hard
at work developing fur- ther flexible formats for heating and cooking products.
These new innovations include grab-n-go-style prod- ucts, such as those found at ser- vice stations or in bain-marie, as well as products heated at home by customers.
Ansell says these new packages feature peel-and-seal functionality. This means they can be filled in a supermarket with food – meat and sauce for instance.
“They’re either filled at the super- market, or sent frozen to the store, and the consumer just pops it into the oven at home,” she says.
“We’ve also had customers looking at the possibilities of this type of pouch for foodservice. It has great potential for boosting food safety – it can be prepacked, eliminating some food-handling time.” ■