Sealpac tray sealing technology enables Baumann Vertriebs fresh berry virgin plastic savings
20 Nov 2020 --- Germany-based packaging manufacturer Sealpac is aiding Baumann Vertriebs, a fresh berry producer, to achieve virgin plastic reductions required by its retail partners.
The collaboration says its work is an example to industry of how using the right machinery and processes help phase out virgin plastic dependency in the supply chain.
The virgin plastic reductions required reforming Baumann’s production process, Marcel Veenstra, marketing and communications manager at Sealpac International, tells PackagingInsights.
“The production process within Baumann had to be tuned to the new packaging system, starting with the filling process of the berries in the field, all the way to placing the sealed trays in their transport box.”
Baumann has used Sealpac technology since 2005, but around two years ago was required by retailers to lower its virgin plastic use by June 2020. This meant, among other things, switching to tray sealing.
Previously the company delivered all its berry products in plastic trays manually fitted with snap-on lids. The entire production line was tuned to this process, says the company, which is why at first, it was reluctant to change.
“Nevertheless, we started working on change,” says CEO Annika Baumann.
“Starting this season, we have been packaging our berries in plastic trays made from resource-saving recycled PET (rPET). The trays are sealed with a top film in a fully automated manner.”
“The implementation of this brand-new packaging system has significantly changed our process and brought a number of, sometimes unexpected, advantages.”
Tray seal
The Sealpac A6 tray sealer.ing virgin plastic elimination
One of the new process’ special features, says Baumann, is the trays are filled with berries in the field.
After arriving at the production facility, the trays are brought to their correct weight using a multi-head weighing system. After the weighing process, the trays are fed on a double lane conveyor into the Sealpac A6 tray sealer.
The A6 reacts flexibly to the in-feed, as it cannot be guaranteed the exact number of trays are always arriving on both lanes simultaneously. The lanes work independently to ensure all trays are reliably sealed, says SealPac.
The A6 seals the rPET trays with a peelable top film, pre-perforated to allow for optimal oxygen and moisture exchange. Since most labeling systems only work single lane, the trays are converged after sealing.
To allow for space, this was implemented directly on the tray sealer. The trays now run out of the machine in a single lane, labeled, collected and picked.
The limited space at Baumann’s facility also proved to be a challenge in terms of efficiency.
In the end, the line was tailored to the available space and designed in a U-shape without reducing its output. Although the Sealpac A6 is regarded as a flexible tray sealer for medium outputs, it can still reliably seal between 120 and 140 trays per minute.
Reduced emissions, increased buying incentive
Other benefits of the new process are increased space in transport, enabling emissions reductions, notes the collaboration.
Baumann Vertriebs CEO Annika Baumann.“We were able to further optimize logistics through even more efficient use of our transport boxes because these can now be filled with at least 12-packs instead of six. That will certainly be a topic for the autumn talks with our customers,” explains Baumann.
“Preserving resources is important to us as an agricultural production company, but is also a real buying incentive for many consumers that pay attention to environmental sustainability.”
“The fact that less plastic is used for the packaging is clearly visible since we moved from a snap-on lid to a thin, but solid top film.”
Improved hygiene
The tray sealer is made entirely of stainless steel, while cleaning and maintenance occur ergonomically at working height. Tip-up covers expose the entire machine so that all components are easily accessible.
“Cleaning our equipment is an important topic. Being a processing company, we deal with completely different certifications than agricultural companies. Compared with other equipment, both the handling and cleaning of the Sealpac tray sealer are extremely operator-friendly,” continues Baumann.
Paper future
Baumann is looking to make these improvements a step on the way to plastic elimination by switching to cardboard packaging in the future.
“We plan to put our berries on the market in a sealed cardboard tray. We already know that the Sealpac A6 tray sealer is capable of processing these trays without compromising on reliability and is therefore well suited to implement this project,” Baumann concludes.
By Louis Gore-Langton
