Crown Europe: Metal cans an “effortlessly sustainable” solution for burgeoning ready meal market

Crown Packaging Europe is emphasizing the environmental benefits of using metal in place of plastic in the expanding ready meal market. 

Speaking to PackagingInsights, Crown Packaging Europe’s marketing and communications manager Lorena Osella discusses the importance of metal in the ready meal sector, how policy changes impact the market and what the future will hold. 

The ready meal market has witnessed substantial growth in recent years, rising 27.4 percent in Europe year on year in 2020, the company notes. 

Busy lifestyles and lockdown measures enforced throughout the COVID-19 pandemic have seen demand for at-home meals soar, putting more pressure on industry to ensure enhanced food freshness, hygiene, and shelf life. 

Moreover, legislation targeting single-use plastics is driving a boom in alternative materials, with many industry players seeking plastic-free options to boost their eco-credentials. 

In the UK, the Plastics Tax – effective from April 2022 – is proposing a £200 (US$278) per ton tax on plastic packaging with less than 30 percent recycled plastic, while numerous other countries, including China and Australia, are incentivizing waste reduction through legislation.

Canning offers hygiene and eco advantages to ready meal manufacturers.An opportunity for metal 
Osella says that one of the core benefits of canned ready meals is they can be kept at ambient temperatures for long periods. 

“Canning processes remove any potential contaminants from food products, as well as oxygen, creating a hermetic seal. This means no refrigeration is needed throughout the supply chain, allowing products to reach areas that fresh alternatives cannot and extending shelf life to years rather than days.”

“Canned ready meals provide great flexibility and versatility for fast and nutritious meals and cater to all dietary requirements.” 

Osella asserts that a rise in the popularity of plant-based, vegetarian and flexitarian options has also led brands to branch out. 

“It is expected that the market for vegan meat alternatives will hit US$7.5 billion globally by 2025. In addition to enabling products to be available in any season, metal packaging helps reduce food waste by preserving canned produce at the peak of freshness.”

PackagingInsights recently discussed the relevance of metal packaging in preserving food shelf life, avoiding waste and reducing global carbon emissions with Crown’s chief technology officer, Daniel Abramowicz. 

Going green with metal 
Osella explains that metal as a packaging substrate is “effortlessly sustainable” since it is infinitely recyclable without losing its properties.Lorena Osella, marketing and communications manager of Crown Europe.

“In other words, once metal enters the material-to-material loop, where it gets recycled, again and again, it will always be available for future use. This constant reuse into new containers or other metal products saves raw materials and energy and reduces CO2 emissions.”

Lightweighting is also fundamental to reducing the environmental footprint of metal packaging, she continues. The first generation of aluminum beverage cans weighed approximately three ounces per unit. Today’s beverage cans weigh less than half an ounce. 

“We have continued to reduce the thickness of can walls and ends without sacrificing container performance or the critical barrier and strength properties that brand owners demand. Our efforts have achieved a 3 percent global average reduction in our standard 12 oz or 330 ml can weight in the past year alone.”

Aside from packaging material reduction, it is vital to continue to educate consumers about the importance of recycling correctly, continues Osella. 

“Initiatives such as Metal Recycles Forever, launched in 2014 by members of Metal Packaging Europe, focus on helping consumers understand that with metal packaging, every can that is recovered is able to and will be transformed into another product.” 

Today 75 percent of metal packaging is recycled in Europe, with some 80 percent of all metal ever produced in the world still available for use. Recently, the Association of European Producers of Steel for Packaging (APEAL) shared a roadmap for improving recycling rates throughout the continent. Shoppers are increasingly looking for ready meal options, according to Crown.

Raising awareness 
Osella says that in terms of policy and industry action to promote metal packaging and reduce the use of single-use plastics in the ready meal sector, raising awareness of responsible choices is most important. 

“As a packaging manufacturer, we can help our customers provide responsible packaging options and educate their customers – the end consumer. Besides offering inherent sustainability credentials, metal is a highly versatile material. A vast range of shapes and sizes, for example, lets us solve issues such as portion control, which is another way to reduce food waste.”

“Looking at food waste more closely, as opposed to packaging waste in isolation, would be a huge step forward in terms of policy focus. Metal packaging has a natural advantage where food waste reduction is concerned, given the shelf life potential of canned goods, portion control, easy-open functionality, and its ability to better protect products throughout the supply chain even at ambient temperatures.” 

She concludes that food waste and packaging waste need to be considered together when selecting formats for food and beverage packaging.

By Louis Gore-Langton