Frozen food pack experts highlight paper and banding innovations for shifting industry trends

04 Oct 2023 --- Frozen food packaging is undergoing the same changes as all other segments of the industry – reduction, reuse and recycling are key elements for R&D and are continuing to shape new product designs. Innova Market Insights has found that frozen product launches are increasing globally, with a 6% rise over the past five years.

We speak to experts from ProAmpac, ATS-Tanner and Mondi about the particular challenges in decreasing the environmental footprint of frozen food packaging. 

A Mondi spokesperson says that one of the biggest hurdles in producing effective frozen food applications is having the right mechanical strength in combination with easy processability on filling lines. 

“Frozen food can be very abrasive. Therefore, mechanical strength, puncture resistance and tear strength need to be as high as possible while at the same time ensuring flexibility on the filling lines at high production speeds. In addition, the packaging needs to keep its integrity at low and elevated temperatures,” they explain. 

ATS-Tanner banding systems.Banding and barriers 
Thomas Weber, ATS-Tanner’s content manager, explains that finding solutions that can work at low temperatures and with moisture is the starting point for creating freezable packages, and that the company’s experience in creating labels is a lesson for the industry. 

The challenge, he says, is “finding labels that can catch the eye of the consumer, which don’t break due to moisture, which don’t move on the package and where you can place both branding as well as variable data such as expiration dates and batch numbers.” 

“Our labeling materials can be used under very low temperatures, ultrasonic banding doesn’t use adhesives and the label holds the product with the necessary pressure so the label doesn’t move and the product is not damaged. ATS banding papers can be used in the presence of water and drastically reduce the use of plastics.” 

Replacing plastics with fiber-based materials is an ongoing trend throughout packaging, but Mondi says frozen food is “an excellent example of an application in which a functional barrier paper can ‘do the job’ just as well as plastic.”  

“Mondi’s Functional Barrier Papers offer the required protection for frozen food while using responsibly sourced natural fibers, being designed for recycling and replacing plastic for specific applications,” they say. 

The material needs to ensure good printability to allow brand owners an attractive presentation at the point of sale.

Filling lines 
Charles Golub, F&B market manager for ProAmpac, says that creating solutions that run efficiently on filling machines, and can effectively preserve food quality, is a central challenge for frozen packaging. 

ProAmpac recently launched ProActive Recyclable RP-1000SB, a packaging solution explicitly tailored for IQF (Individually Quick-frozen) fruits and vegetables. The innovation enables high-quality printing on kraft or bleached paper and heat seal that can run on high-speed filling lines, and is recyclable in curbside paper streams. 

“ProAmpac recognizes the importance of digital technology in advancing sustainability efforts driven by sorting packaging formats, and we have been at the forefront of this technology for years,” says Golub. “We’ve taken significant steps in this direction by joining initiatives like Holygrail 2.0, which focuses on improving sorting technology.” ProAmpac frozen food packaging.

“In addition, we’ve developed solutions within the advanced watermark technologies. These innovations enhance packaging recyclability and contribute to a more efficient sorting process, ultimately helping reduce waste and improve sustainability.”

Policies on plastics 
Dealing with end-of-life issues for frozen packages is much the same as with other packaging formats, says Golub. 

“Currently, the store drop-off system is a good first step, but we need some significant increase in accessibility and infrastructure to enable wider adoption. The same is true for industrial compostable facilities that would take in films,” he says. 

“There are significant gaps in the users’ ability to dispose of these products relative to consumer preference. We need increased investment in recycling and composting infrastructure. North America lacks adequate sorting streams and recycling locations, hindering the recycling of innovative packaging solutions.” 

“Policymakers can help to promote consumer educational initiatives to raise awareness about recycling practices and the importance of designing a package to meet product needs.”

Weber says that despite ATS-Tanner’s ultrasonic banding helping improve the quality of labeling and reducing the amount of single-use plastics, most of the single-use plastics used in the frozen food industry are on the trays and the sealing of the tray. 

“Policymakers could force the industry and the consumers to demand more sustainable trays (compostable, wood, paper-based, multi-layer and easy to separate, recycled and recyclable). This is a challenge because the tray is in contact with the food and in a humid environment and it will need a good isolation between product and tray,” he explains. 

“Even when industry and consumers start using sustainable packaging it should be urgent to invest in an infrastructure which can assure the separation and recyclability of transparent plastic materials, films, multilayer papers. So packaging materials really follow the recyclability process to the end.” 

By Louis Gore-Langton