foodservice

14 Jan 2019 --- Family-owned Bavarian mustard producers Mari-Senf has launched a new Bag-in-Box dispensing system which has “huge plastic waste reduction potential.” Designed by DS Smith’s UK Rapak division in collaboration with Swedish dispensing specialists Asept, the Bag-in-Box design aims to minimize serving and clean-up time for street food kiosks, making it ideal for events such as Germany’s Oktoberfest.

10 Dec 2018 --- Costa Coffee and Barclaycard have collaborated to launch the UK’s first reusable coffee-cup with integrated contactless payment technology. Powered by Barclaycard’s bPay technology, Costa Coffee’s Clever Cup allows users to make purchases with the cup, top up their in-store credit balance and track payments online or via a dedicated app on both iPhone and Android devices. Launched last month in Costa Coffee stores across the UK, this reusable innovation is expected to decrease the volume of discarded coffee cups.

04 Dec 2018 --- A new UK tax on plastic sandwich packaging is expected to be implemented as early as this week as part of UK Environment Secretary Michael Gove’s Resource and Waste Strategy. Typical sandwich packs are notoriously difficult to recycle due to the glued bond of cardboard and plastic. Reports speculate that the funds generated by adding a 15p (US$0.19) tax to each plastic sandwich pack could be put towards recouping the recycling costs.

11 Oct 2018 --- The packaging solution is sometimes right in front of your eyes. That is the view of Simone Caronni, Pietro Gaeli and Paolo Stefano Gentile, three product designers from NABA University in Milan, who have created cone-shaped fries packaging from discarded potato peels. Fries companies produce a lot of potato peels: the idea of this project is to use this material to save on waste while producing eco-conscious packaging, the trio says, and so the Peel Saver was born.

04 Oct 2018 --- Results of a new six-phase study confirmed that compostable foodservice packaging can be effectively used as a feedstock in commercial composting facilities. The testing, funded by the Foodservice Packaging Institute and the Biodegradable Products Institute, showed that foodservice packaging performed as well as wood and other traditional feedstocks.

01 Oct 2018 --- WestRock, a leading provider of differentiated paper and packaging solutions, will begin accepting mixed paper bales that contain paper foodservice packaging at its 100 percent recycled paperboard mills across the US, the company has announced. Historically, paper-based foodservice packaging, which includes items such as single-use cups, takeout cartons and pizza boxes, has not been widely accepted in recycling programs due to concerns over polymer coatings and food contamination. However, as paper mill pulping and cleaning systems have evolved, so has the ability to accept types of foodservice packaging.

07 Aug 2018 --- UK packaging supplier Tri-Star Packaging has launched a brand new addition to its extensive and popular deli pot range: Four round pots manufactured from premium high-clarity rPET – made in part from recycled plastic bottles. The new KC Range combines optimum visibility on the shelf with market-leading sustainability.

25 Jul 2018 --- In an attempt to lower the use of single-use plastics in takeaway packaging, online delivery service Just Eat has announced a new UK six-week trial of seaweed-based sauce sachets for ketchup and garlic herb sauces. The Ooho! Seaweed Sauce sachets, created in partnership with sustainable packaging development company Skipping Rocks Lab, decompose in a matter of weeks.

10 Jul 2018 --- Starbucks will no longer provide single-use plastic straws in its more than 28,000 stores worldwide in a move that is expected to eliminate more than one billion plastic straws annually. The coffee giant will instead offer a strawless lid or paper or plastic compostable straw alternative. Meanwhile, Seattle has become the first major city to ban single-use plastic straws and eating utensils, as of July 1.

18 Jun 2018 --- McDonald’s has announced a “phased rollout” of paper straws to replace plastic straws across all of its 1,361 UK and Ireland restaurants from September this year. The transition will be complete by 2019, while the fast-food giants are also trialing alternatives to plastic straws in Belgium and planning tests for select restaurants in the US, France, Sweden, Norway and Australia later this year.

04 Jun 2018 --- Huhtamaki, a global specialist in packaging for food and drink, are to trial a new fiber-based, ready meal packaging. The trial version of the renewable fiber packaging will be tested in the UK this May, as part of Huhtamaki’s efforts to develop alternatives to plastic ready meal trays.

03 Apr 2018 --- European packaging manufacturer, Faerch Plast, has been granted a patent for a “ground-breaking” tray that ensures ultra-low stacking. The implications of a low stacking height for manufacturer’s is increased efficiency of handling, storage and transportation, whilst simultaneously reducing the environmental impact of the trays

30 Mar 2018 --- Ardagh group celebrates the recognition of its world-first decoration technique, “Matte and Mirror Impact,” which contributed to the Espresso Monster Coffee Can nabbing first place, in the Decorative/Specialty category, at the Euro CanTech awards. WorldPackagingOnline spoke to the team about the new technique which combines matte and glossy textures and how it appeals to customers and enhances branding.

30 Mar 2018 --- Typical Easter indulgence in chocolate eggs may well come with associations of calorie guilt for some consumers, but recent research has cast a darker shadow on the chocolate treats, indicating their potential environmental damage. Researchers at the University of Manchester estimate that the UK chocolate industry produces 2.1m tones of greenhouse gases per year and that it takes a heavy 1000 liters of water to produce one chocolate bar. The packaging that accompanies the Easter eggs add the proverbial icing to the cake, campaigners claim.

30 Mar 2018 --- Ecolean – a Swedish headquartered company which specializes in lightweight packaging – presented their two most cost-effective and sustainable filling solutions to date at Anuga FoodTec 2018 in Cologne. Christian Olsson, Director Filling Line Operations at Ecolean, sat down with FoodIngredientsFirst at the show to discuss the new EL2 and EL6 machines, and the strategy behind lightweight pouch production.

23 Mar 2018 --- Altrif Label, a label printing company in the Benelux and St-Luc Labels & Packaging group – has improved its output with new technology: Zeikon CX500. As the first beta-tester of the Xeikon CX500, Altrif Label, based in the Netherlands, is aiming to stay ahead at a technological level.

22 Mar 2018 --- In 2008, global coffee culture giant, Starbucks, made multiple pledges in the name of sustainability, which are still yet to be fulfilled – alleged the campaigners. The company pledged to deliver 100 percent recyclable paper cups and sell 25 percent of drinks in reusable cups by 2015. Campaigners are mounting pressure on the company to fulfill its promises.

20 Mar 2018 --- DS Smith – a UK based packaging and paper company – announces that it could recycle up to 2.5 billion coffee cups per year if the British government answers on calls to improve cup collection.