Mondi equips HKScan with paper-based sausage packs in Swedish recycling boost

15 Sep 2021 --- Mondi has equipped Nordic food manufacturer HKScan with renewable paper-based packaging for its best-selling Falukorv sausages, allowing for recyclability in the company’s native Sweden.

The new packaging comprises renewable materials and is made with responsibly sourced paper and bio-based plastic. The paper is sourced, coated and printed in Sweden, keeping transportation to a minimum.

HKScan sells over eight million Scan Falukorv sausages every year in Sweden alone. The company has pledged to achieve a net-zero carbon dioxide emissions target by 2025, and help establish a carbon-neutral food chain by the end of 2040.

Mondi employed its EcoSolutions approach, collaborating with HKScan’s R&D team to provide the right barrier paper without requiring any changes to its existing production lines.

The EcoSolutions approach highlights using “plastic when useful and paper where possible,” and includes a focus on using sustainably sourced wood.

Paper for recyclability
Thanks to its majority paper content, the new packaging can be disposed of in Swedish paper recycling streams. Mondi’s solution ensures the Scan Falukorv sausage remains fresh and intact during transportation, while the packaging provides print quality for an attractive presentation on shelves.

HKScan sells over eight million Scan Falukorv sausages every year in Sweden alone.“Reducing our environmental footprint is one of our most important priorities at HKScan,” says Maria Häger, director of quality and environment at HKScan Sweden.

“The barrier paper from Mondi is a valuable piece of the jigsaw puzzle, enabling us to proudly announce this new, recyclable packaging for our Falukorv sausage, reducing its carbon impact from the previous solution by 70%.”

“This [packaging] represents a vital step in our sustainability journey and is helping us get closer to achieving our climate targets of a carbon neutral food chain by the end of 2040.”

Innova Market Insights spotlighted the rise in paper-based packaging solutions by pegging “Fiber-based Frenzy” a top trend for 2021. The market analyst also highlights how more stringent regulations are driving the transition from single-use plastics to fiber-based alternatives.

According to Innova Market Insights’ 2021 survey, half of US consumers (49%) regard packaging’s recyclability as its most important sustainability credential, followed by reusability (44%) and recycled material use (35%).

Meanwhile, 72% of global consumers and 62% of US consumers recognize paper’s exceptional recyclability.

HKScan moves away from plastic
The collaboration with Mondi is not HKScan’s first venture into paper-based solutions. This year, the company teamed up with Finnish wood-based plastics innovator Woodly to replace the fossil-based plastics in its meat packaging with a new type of renewable plastic made from wood cellulose.

Woodly developed the biomaterial, with Wipak converting the raw material into final packaging solutions for food applications. According to HKScan, the wood-based plastic will allow HKScan to halve its film’s CO2 emissions, compared to traditional plastic packaging.

“We don’t need to build plants and production lines all over the world to scale up and go big,” Woodly CEO Jaakko Kaminen said.

“Instead, we can partner with the plastic industry that already has a global infrastructure and a hundred years’ work experience.”

By Louis Gore-Langton

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