Environmentally healthy snacking: Mondi and Constantia Flexibles align packaging design with circular economy

22 Sep 2021 --- With snack foods typically consumed on-the-go and often in small quantities, snacking habits can create an inordinate amount of environmentally damaging waste.

As eco-concerns ramp up in legislation and consumer demand, industry is faced with creating solutions that provide ease-of-use and product preservation while becoming more environmentally sustainable. 

PackagingInsights discusses these challenges with experts from Mondi, Constantia Flexibles and Innova Market Insights to gauge how aligning plastic materials with recycling infrastructure can aid the segment’s transition to circularity. 

Moving from PP to PE
MariPau Balaguer, strategic product manager for sustainability at Constantia Flexibles, notes the material typically used for snacks products is based on polypropylene (PP), which is technically recyclable. 

“Despite that, this material is only collected, sorted and reprocessed in some countries with a mixed polyolefin stream, giving rise to low-quality recyclates used in a limited number of applications,” she points out. 

PP recycling is an issue facing many industry players. Recently, several UK companies banded together to launch the Flexible Plastic Fund, an initiative aimed at providing adequate recycling streams for flexible plastics like PP in the UK. 

In addition to recycling infrastructure, Balaguer also emphasizes the importance of packaging design in mitigating these issues. 

“To overcome the lack of the specific stream for PP flexibles, structures based on polyethylene (PE), which count with a dedicated stream in flexibles like low-density PE (LDPE), represent a more circular solution.”

Constantia Flexible EcoPaper..Ecolam and Ecopaper 
Balaguer points to Constantia’s Ecolam portfolio as an example of industry efforts to move toward more recyclable flexible plastics. The portfolio was launched in 2018 and is aimed at helping customers hit carbon reductions targets in their flexible packs. 

“EcoLam is a family of laminates based on PE, compatible with sorting and recycling technologies available in Europe,” she explains. “In snack products, EcoLamHighPlus in its duplex version has the applicable properties to substitute non-readily recyclable structures.”

“Consumers are concerned about plastic waste, which has increased the demand for paper materials. Paper is an interesting substrate to be combined with coatings that provide a barrier. However, these coatings do not have to hinder its repulpability, and their amount should be minimal to not lose the classification as ‘paper.’”

Constantia Flexibles’ EcoPaper range, a specific line within its Ecolutions product portfolio, is an example of attempts at boosting recyclability for paper-based snack packaging. 

Shelf life stability 
Constantia Flexibles’ EcoPaper was designed to answer the challenge of maintaining product freshness while achieving recyclability in paper streams. 

“Depending on the specific snack product, the barrier of recyclable paper could not be sufficient to keep the crispiness and/or crunchiness throughout the shelf life,” explains Ingo Geillersdoerfer, strategic product manager processed food and snacks at Constantia Flexibles. The Mondi BarrierPack Recyclable is constructed using two layers of PE.

“If the product reduces its shelf life, the environmental impact could be higher when using paper packaging than plastic packaging that can be recycled. Therefore, a holistic approach, considering all impacts along the product life cycle, is a must when speaking about sustainability.” 

However, Innova Market Insights highlights that plastic continues to dominate the snack packaging scene, with 80% of new product launches being plastic between 2016 and 2020. In contrast, only 8% were carton, and 4% were cardboard. 

However, the market analyst also notes a general rise in paper-based packaging solutions as more stringent plastics regulations come into play, marking “Fiber-based Frenzy” a top trend for 2021. 

Innova Market Insights notes that half of US consumers (49%) regard packaging’s recyclability as its most important sustainability credential. Meanwhile, 72% of global consumers and 62% of US consumers recognize paper’s exceptional recyclability.

Breaking down barriers 
Weighing the benefits of material types against product shelf life in snack packaging is what has driven Mondi’s EcoSolutions approach to deliver environmental sustainability in the sector, explains Judith Wronn, senior communications manager for the consumer packaging giant. 

One example of the approach is Mondi’s BarrierPack Recycable, a fully recyclable plastic laminate for pre-made pouches and form, fill and seal (FFS) roll stock. 

Hula Hoops reduced material in its packaging by 23%.“BarrierPack Recyclable is designed to complement the sustainability benefits already offered by flexibles – reduction of food waste, carbon emissions and energy use – by adding recyclability, something laminates made of different materials cannot offer,” says Wronn. 

This sustainable material is constructed using two layers of PE film and with an additional gas barrier layer also suitable for modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) for food products.

BarrierPack Recyclable is lighter than PET/PE laminates of the same thickness and made to be easy to open and reclose for consumer convenience, Wronn continues. 

Lightweighting and composting 
Besides adjusting to recyclable plastics and creating more effective barrier solutions for fiber-based packs, snack packaging producers are also focusing on lightweighting their existing products and introducing compostable materials. 

For example, Hula Hoops recently lightweighted its chip packets by 23%, as recorded by Innova Market Insights. 

More companies are also leading with compostable claims for their snack packs. US-based Impact Snacks recently launched wrapper made from entirely plant-based bioplastics, which are 100% home-compostable, certified marine-biodegradable wrappers. 

In partnership with Clearloop, Impact Snacks has determined that each bar produces 0.38 pounds of greenhouse gases. The company then grants customers 2.5 times that value in carbon credits to invest in renewable energy projects or to plant trees via mass reforestation projects with every purchase they make.

By Louis Gore-Langton