Piranha concept: Waddington Europe unveils mono-material meat tray for circular economy

13 Jan 2022 --- Waddington Europe is launching a mono-material, recyclable meat tray that doesn’t require the polyethylene layer or adhesive coating typically used to seal the lids in modified atmosphere packaging (MAP).

“The Piranha concept relies upon a defined ‘tooth’ profile on the tray’s sealing surface, allowing any grease contamination to be wiped away while creating a clean ‘peak’ on which to seal the film,” Fraser Graham, Waddington Europe’s technical director, tells PackagingInsights.

The raised teeth maintain the seal’s integrity even if the flange becomes contaminated by animal fat, which can interfere with the closure on traditional packaging for meat, fish and poultry products.

With Piranha, greasy contaminants are forced into the channels between the raised teeth, leaving the peaks clear and clean to contact the PET top web. The top web adheres to the peaks, creating the seal despite the presence of contaminants, under the same sealing temperatures and dwell time as conventional MAP solutions.

Waddington Europe – a Novolex division – reports that the problem of burst seals due to grease contamination on mono-recycled PET (rPET) sealing was cut to almost zero during Piranha filling-line trials.

“Piranha is tested and available now,” adds Graham. “We are agile and can make new tooling or convert existing tooling quickly. The main markets for Piranha are the UK and Europe.”The mono-material tray does not require the PE layer or adhesive coating typical of MAP solutions.

Circular economy ready
As a mono-material package, the tray is capable of being fully recycled. Piranha can also be made with up to 100% rPET for compliance with the incoming UK Plastic Packaging Tax.

“We are always trying to find innovative ways to reduce our carbon footprint and promote circularity, and help our customers and their consumers do the same,” notes Eduardo Gomes, managing director at Waddington Europe.

“Our packaging development team has hit the mark with Piranha, enabling us to optimize the use of recycled content and provide a product that’s capable of being easily recycled back into food-grade rPET.”

Ensuring rPET supply
However, industry concerns around the availability of rPET during this time of intensifying regulation are mounting.The tray concept relies on a defined “tooth” profile, much like a Piranha.

Graham reiterates rPET availability is a concern in the industry as demand increases, as the business works to overcome this issue.

“Long term, we are aiming to improve the waste streams of our packaging in the market to ensure we do our part to increase the quality of plastic bale stock in the rPET infrastructure,” he explains.

“Short term, we are working closely with our supply partners to ensure our forecast availability for rPET can be met.”

Last year, Waddington Europe partnered with Shabra, a leading Irish recycler and reprocessor of post-consumer waste, to secure a long-term supply of food-grade rPET.

The thermoforming packaging specialist has also eliminated bubble padding in soft-fruit containers using cushion technology.

By Joshua Poole