Mondi at Anuga FoodTec 2022: Paper-based solutions for plastic reduction pledges

02 May 2022 --- Big European retailers have pledged to reduce their plastic consumption and are now searching for the right solutions to fulfill those pledges without exacerbating food waste, says Falk Paulsen, sales and business development director at Mondi Functional Paper & Films. 

PackagingInsights spoke to Paulsen at Anuga FoodTec 2022 last week in Cologne, Germany, about the rising demand for paper-based packaging from customers and consumers. He spotlighted some of the company’s latest paper-based innovations for food items and touched on the paper-based transition’s potential and current limitations.

“We see at the moment a huge demand for paper-based packaging. Especially the retailers across Europe – they made big announcements to reduce plastic consumption, and now they are looking for the right solutions.”

“One example in the UK is Chicken Dippers. Here, we have a paper-based solution, which fulfills 90-10 – so you still have 90% paper and 10% of plastic for the sealing and barrier properties, but we are helping the customer save 80% on plastic.”

“We are continuously working to reduce the plastic part of the packaging, but we are aware that we need a sealing medium and a barrier property. For example, the Chicken Dippers contain grease, and pure paper wouldn’t work because then the grease would migrate through the paper, so you need a certain barrier.”

Recyclability without food waste
Mondi has conducted trials with European paper recyclers to ensure its paper packaging is fully recyclable, meaning the fibers are put back in the material stream and the plastic is taken out. However, these circularity gains are only worthwhile if product shelf life remains competitive, as concerns around food waste’s contribution to climate change grow.

Falk Paulsen, sales and business development director at Mondi Functional Paper & Films.“There is no change [in shelf life between paper-based and plastic solutions], and it is also very important for our approach because we want to save food. No one will be helped if we reduce the shelf life because we would potentially create more food waste, and this definitely needs to be prevented,” explains Paulsen.

“At the moment, we see that all the high-barrier products, for example, instant soups, which have a shelf life of two years, plastic is the right choice, because here we can offer the right shelf life and protect the food.”

“Also, if you look at medical applications, they even still have aluminum laminate on the market because this provides the best safety for the product.”

Consumers trust paper
Last year, Mondi equipped French Group LSDH’s Les Crudettes salads with functional barrier paper packaging made from 95% fiber, replacing its previous plastic bags with a solution recyclable in France.

“Les Cruedettes found out that customers didn’t want to buy its fresh salad anymore because it was in a plastic bag, and they don’t want to create more plastic waste. So Les Cruedettes chose paper-based packaging.”

“You can’t see the salad – which I thought might be difficult – but the shoppers perceive paper as recyclable. It has a five-day shelf life and if people are not happy about the salad inside they directly get their money back. So, in this example, we have proven that the customer does not really need to see the product itself, but the paper will trigger the buying.”

Paulsen adds that customers who have transitioned to paper-based packaging have enjoyed higher sales volumes than before, as people increasingly perceive paper as an environmentally sustainable packaging choice.Mondi’s new Performing Monoloop paper-based tray for food.

Raw material prices
The rising price of oil may, in more normal circumstances, have provided an extra incentive for businesses to switch from plastic to paper-based solutions. However, global issues, most notably the Ukraine war, have driven up material prices across the board.

“Unfortunately, all material prices are increasing: paper, plastic, even aluminum, everything. It is very difficult to know [if paper will become more cost-effective than plastic.] We will have to see in the future because the industry is changing. As more paper is needed, there will be more paper production in the future, then let’s see what happens then to the price levels,” notes Paulsen.

“We are currently developing new paper-based solution with a lot of customers and industry partners. With the concept of our functional barrier paper, which is 95-5 (paper-plastic ratio), we can think about packaging all different kinds of goods, like frozen food, fresh salad and pasta, so we are in front of a very exciting development.”

At Anuga FoodTec 2022, Mondi unveiled a formable and recyclable paper-based solution for sliced food such as cheese or meat branded Performing Monoloop. The paper tray with a barrier layer is combined with a plastic top web solution, allowing “excellent” product protection while reducing plastic use.

By Joshua Poole