Packaging for a Better Planet: Swedish Innovations at Forefront of Sustainable Packaging

To be more sustainable, Williams says, more flexible packaging is needed to help reduce food waste; it may even be beneficial to increase the environmental impact of some packaging products slightly to help minimize food spoilage and loss.

Packaging firm Ecolean (Helsingborg, Sweden) has successfully developed and launched environmentally friendly packaging for such dairy products as milk, yogurt, cream, and crème fraîche. Ecolean’s flexible packaging, which enables the consumer to squeeze out nearly all of the contents with ease, is particularly suitable for dairy products. Made of chalk (40%), air, and plastic, the flexible packaging is used and sold in Sweden, as well as in China, Russia, and Central Europe.

“Modern times and new requirements demand new types of packaging,” says Peter S. Nilsson, sales and marketing director of Ecolean. “The Ecolean lightweight package uses fewer raw materials, causes less waste volume, and requires less energy in manufacturing. This is in line with the global demand of a resource-saving society.”

Minimal Environmental Impact

Ecolean’s minimalist packaging, in development since the 1990s, uses far fewer materials and has a low impact on the environment. Only a minute amount of plastic, diluted with chalk, is needed for each package, which weighs only about half the amount of equal-sized dairy packaging. The handle is filled with air, which makes the package more stable even when it’s half empty. When emptied, the package is as flat as an envelope, requiring minimal space. The total amount of plastic in the entire package is about the same as the amount used in the screw cap for a conventional milk bottle.

This transformation in packaging should please consumers. A recent consumer study by WRAP, the United Kingdom’s Waste and Resources Action Programme, found that 66% of consumers think products use too much packaging.5 The research also showed that almost half of global consumers would give up all forms of packaging provided for convenience if it benefited the environment.

“In the globalized world of today, the importance of packaging in general, and sustainable packaging in particular, is increasing at a fast pace,” says Carl Olsmats, PhD, general secretary of the World Packaging Organisation. “Good packaging is needed to support global trade. Packaging needs to be lean on resources itself, and at the same time provide adequate protection of its contents to prevent food—and other products’—spoilage and losses.”

Sustainable Packaging Preserves Food

A good example of sustainable packaging can be seen in products made by the packaging firm Xylophane (Göteborg, Sweden). The company has developed a new, environmentally friendly barrier material that helps preserve food. Xylophane’s plastic is developed from xylan, a group of substances called hemi cellulose. Hemi cellulose is one of nature’s most common carbohydrates and can be found in residue from the forestry and agricultural industries.

Xylan-based material is an excellent barrier against oxygen, grease, and odors, making it ideal for food preservation. Instead of using non-biodegradable petroleum-based plastic films or aluminum coatings, the food industry could switch to the wholly sustainable xylan-based film without compromising food quality. Examples of foods that are especially sensitive to oxygen include fruit juice, coffee, chocolate, and chips.

The biggest advantage of Xylophane is its environmental friendliness, says Håkan Grubb, CEO at Xylophane. “Xylan is biodegradable in the same way as cardboard and can be composted. During combustion, the only substances formed are carbon dioxide and water,” Grubb adds.

Xylophane is cheap to produce, easy to transport, and sustainable enough to handle a manufacturing process that combines it with other materials to create a finished product. For example, Xylophane can be “painted” onto cardboard to create a stronger product. “Xylophane is one of the most interesting packaging projects currently coming out of Sweden,” says Ulf Carlson, a consultant who was previously the vice president of research and development at SCA, Swedish Cellulose Limited. “It’s a very promising technology for the future.”