Stora Enso will build a pilot facility for producing Cellufoam™ by Stora Enso, a lightweight, fiber-based foam material for protective packaging and cushioning. Bio-based foams are renewable and recyclable and can be used in packaging, for example, to replace oil-based polymer foams which are widely used today. The pilot plant will be located at Stora Enso’s Fors Mill in Sweden.
Neste and Jokey, a leading international manufacturer of rigid plastic packaging, started collaborating with a target to develop the market for rigid packaging from sustainable renewable and recycled materials for food and non-food applications.
Braskem is to become a Green Plastic supplier for the traditional Rio de Janeiro-based brand Café Favorito. The first polyethylene of renewable origin to be produced in the world, the resin will be applied in the 500 g coffee pillow packs.
“We produce over one million metric tons of coffee annually, sold mainly in the Lagos and Serrana regions and in the south of the state of Rio de Janeiro. The use of Green Plastic in our packaging reinforces our effort in the search for sustainable performance,” explained Adriana de Oliveira, Chief Commercial Officer of Café Favorito.
Italian industrial biotech company Bio-on, specialized in the sector of bioplastic of high quality, organic and biodegradable at 100%, set up AMT Labs S.p.A., a newco dedicated to the study, development and production of innovative materials for the tobacco world. Now AMT Labs company, capitalised with 10 million euros, sees the entry of GimaTT, with a 20% share for an investment of 2.2 million euros. GimaTT is a leader in the design and assembly of automatic machines on eletronic basis for the the packaging of products derived from tobacco and, in particular, those of new generation at reduced risk. Gima TT is controlled by IMA S.p.A. and is listed on the Star segment of the Italian Stock Exchange since October 2017.
Australia-based Leaf Resources has secured a license for an innovative biodegradable coating product for the packaging market. The product is based on lignin and also utilizes glycerol, two of the products that Leaf’s Glycell process will produce. According to the company, “Leaf’s Glycell process break down plant biomass at lower temperature and pressure and generate a higher yield of cellulose than conventional approaches”.
Elopak, an international supplier of paper based packaging solutions for liquid food, based in Norway and wholly owned by the Ferd Group, and Stora Enso has launched the first gable top carton made from natural brown unbleached paperboard, creating the Naturally Pure-Pak® carton with a highly distinctive, natural look and feel.
A packaging revolution: Danone and Nestlé Waters, the world’s two largest bottled water companies, have joined forces with Origin Materials, a startup based in Sacramento, California, to form the NaturALL Bottle Alliance. Together, the three partners aim to develop and launch at commercial scale a PET plastic bottle made from bio-based material, i.e. 100% sustainable and renewable resources. PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) is the most common plastic in polyester family and is used in fibers for clothing, containers for liquids and foods, thermoforming for manufacturing, and in combination with glass fiber for engineering resins.
Tetra Pak launched a new version of Tetra Brik® Aseptic 1000 Edge with Bio-based LightCap 30. This is the first aseptic carton package in the world to receive the highest class of Vinçotte certification for its use of renewable materials.
A new version of Tetra Pak’s Tetra Top® package, more than 80% of which comes from plant-based materials, will make its global debut in the United States with JUST™ water. To announce it was last Friday the Swedish multinational company. The new generation carton bottle now comes with a cap and top made from high-density polyethylene (HDPE) derived from sugarcane. Combined with the FSC™ certified paperboard used in the main sleeve of the carton, this pushes its renewable content up from 53% to 82%, with no impact to its recyclability. This unique bio-based bottle delivers another milestone in a long line of successful environmental innovations at Tetra Pak.
Bio-on, an Italian industrial biotech company, yesterday announced a major result achieved thanks to its new collaboration with Tampere University of Technology Finland, one of the most important centers in the world for research and innovation in the use of paper and plastic for food packaging. “A joint project launched in 2015 has produced for the very first time tetrapak type containers made of a combination of paper and bioplastic, namely the special grade EC (Extrusion Coating) of the Minerv PHA biopolymer”.
IL BIOECONOMISTA 