In a bid to reduce the amount of plastic used in the sealing of food produce such as pasta, rice and crisps, researchers at Bath University, England, are leading a project to build a new high-speed packaging machine.
By developing a more efficient way of sealing the packaging, they hope to reduce the amount of material used by about 13%, leading to savings of thousands of tons of landfill waste.
The team will look at existing processes used to mechanically fill and seal packaging and use this information to design a new packing machine which uses less plastic and recycled materials.
The two year project is being funded by the UK Government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).
Greener packaging drives have also led to the launch of a new symbol this week to denote packaging that is suitable for composting at home.
The logo will work alongside the current seedling logo already in use to show packaging that can be composted in various facilities.
The logo is being designed by the UK’s independent advisory board on plant based renewables, the National Non-Food Crops Centre, the Association for Organics Recycling (AFOR) and government advisory group, the Green Alliance.
Other recent innovations within the UK food packaging sector include Cowan London’s redesigns for a range of olive snacks called Oloves.
The snacks, packaged in a stand-up pouch have been manufactured using silver laminate. The pouches are produced by Oloves owner Brand Stand at facilities in Sevilee, Spain.
The new packages will be available from retailers Asda and WH Smith stores. Innovations were also awarded at the Cans of the Year 2008 competition for global companies.
Chocolate and biscuit makers Godiva also won an award for its biscuit tin designed by Huber Decorative in the “Fancy Cans” category.