Page 36 - Food&Drink magazine Feb-Mar 2023

FRESH & CHILLED
Packaging fresh produce sustainably
BASF and StePac have joined forces to create the next generation of sustainable packaging specifically for the fresh produce sector.
CHEMICAL and industrial solutions specialist BASF is supplying fresh produce packaging company StePac with its product Ultramid Ccycled, a chemically recycled polyamide 6.
For StePac, incorporating the material into its contact- sensitive packaging formats provides greater flexibility and more opportunities to reach a higher standard of sustainability.
StePac specialises in developing advanced functional packaging solutions and is pioneering the use of chemically recycled plastics for the packaging of fresh perishables.
The company was recently REDcert certified to incorporate chemically recycled polyamide 6 into its flexible, modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) products.
Its two brands Xgo and Xtend are based on MAP technology with built-in humidity control, which effectively slows respiration inside the packaging, delays the ageing processes, inhibits microbial decay, and preserves the quality and nutritional value of the
produce during prolonged storage and long-haul shipments. Ultramid Ccycled will make up 30 per cent of the packaging material, with options for integration at a higher percentage.
Business development manager of StePac Gary Ward says, “This alliance will help strike a balance between creating plastic packaging that is as eco-friendly as possible to keep fresh produce longer through more prudent use of lean plastic films.
“These upgraded packaging formats will continue to maintain their role of significantly reducing food waste, a most important task considering that global food waste is responsible for about eight per cent of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions.”
CREATING FOOD
GRADE PLASTIC
BASF has been breaking new ground in the recycling of plastic waste with its product ChemCycling.
Chemical recycling primarily involves plastic waste that would have been used for energy
recovery or landfilled.
The company says it complements mechanical recycling, accelerating a circular economy by yielding food-grade recycled plastic.
Vice president of BASF’s European polyamides business Dr Dominik Winter explains, “In a thermochemical process, our partners obtain recycled feedstock from these end-of-life plastics, which is then fed into the BASF Verbund.
“Using a mass balance approach, the raw material can be attributed to specific products, such as Ultramid Ccycled.
“This helps to replace fossil raw materials and is an important step towards circularity. As chemically recycled plastics have the same quality and safety as virgin material, the scope of plastics that can be recycled for fresh produce packaging is widened.”
SHELF-LIFE SAVERS
Colombian passion fruit exporters, Jardin Exotics, is the
ABOVE: StePac’s Xgo Circular slows the ripening process.
first company to use StePac’s new packaging brand Xgo Circular. Supplied as film for horizontal form fill-and-seal, the packaging’s MAP properties will slow the ripening process and preserve the quality of the fruit during the long sea voyage from Colombia to Europe.
Packing at-source in the final retail packaging format also eliminates the need for repacking after arrival.
For passionfruit, the produce specific modified atmosphere properties of the film together with its high-water vapor transmission rate are what makes this film unique in
its performance.
In Australia, StePac’s
exclusive distributor is JTechSystems. ✷
ABOVE: The Omori Flow Wrapper provides strong barrier protection.
IN the Netherlands, ProMessa, a supplier of fresh meat products to supermarkets, has reduced its plastics use by 70 per cent using an Omori Flow Wrapper.
For the retailer, the equipment brings environmental benefits and extended shelf-life for products. It has also reduced
transportation load in terms of both the packaging material and the packaged end products.
The result is that ProMessa has been able to reduce its overheads with transport movements, material costs, energy costs, and running costs.
Omori’s Australian distributor, Perfect Automation,
says the sealing technology encases the flow packs in a strong barrier protection film that allows for longer shelf life and reduced food wastage.
Omori also offers recloseable packing that can reduce a company’s plastic footprint by 50 per cent, and spoilage of freshandchilledproducts. ✷
Strong barrier for longer life
Fresh meat supplier ProMessa, turned to Omori when it was looking for shelf-life solutions and greater efficiencies.
36 | Food&Drink business | February/March 2023 | www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au