The waste hierarchy: Coveris showcases efficiency and energy saving efforts at FachPack 2022

10 Oct 2022 --- Coveris is demonstrating that waste reduction, based on a material hierarchy and energy analysis, should be the focal point of packaging companies looking to improve their environmental footprint. At FachPack 2022 in Nuremberg, Germany, the group’s representatives gave detailed lectures on how they are achieving their goals.

PackagingInsights spoke with several of the team’s members, who explained that – contrary to the approaches of many rival companies – looking to reduce plastic or paper solely is not the answer. Instead, incorporating its “No Waste” vision across the value chain is key to lowering emissions and reaching international climate change targets.  

Philipp Pap, director of corporate development at Coveris, explains the “No Waste” vision is characterized by a holistic approach on three levels: the avoidance of product waste, packaging waste and operational waste. 

“To achieve this, we have established a detailed understanding of our waste hierarchy and waste reduction potential across our operations,” he says. “In the last 18 months, we have learned our ‘No Waste’ journey is showing success because all levels of our organization are involved – from our management board to our forklift drivers.” 

Coveris products at FachPack 2022.Green teams
Pap further explains that Coveris has driven its strategy by forming dozens of initiatives throughout the UK whose purpose is to prevent waste in various forms, starting with the most energy-intensive forms. These initiatives are led by the company’s “Green Teams.” 

“By involving local Green Teams, and by collecting many individual ideas via our No Waste Champion competition each month, we have kick-started over 100 initiatives across the Group to reduce waste in all its forms,” he says. 

“This involves adapting our product portfolio to make our packaging solutions recyclable and to include recycled materials where possible. It also means reducing the waste leaving our sites, ramping up our recycling capabilities by processing internal and externally sourced waste and optimizing the use of input materials to minimize our carbon footprint.” 

A prime product example on display at FachPack was Coveris’ monomaterial peelable and reclosable lidding films for dairy products, designed to cut down on food waste and provide a fully recyclable alternative to traditional packaging. 

Innova Market Insights pegged “Monomaterial Mastery” as its second top packaging trend for 2022, highlighting the transition away from hard-to-recycle, multilayer packaging to monomaterial solutions that are recyclable through existing infrastructure.

Green energy 
Another central aspect of Coveris’ “No Waste” strategy is its transition to more environmentally sustainable energy sources. Wolfgang Bolom, head of R&D and technical support at Coveris, says the company’s move toward green energy is underway. Wolfgang Bolom detailed the No Waste strategy at FachPack 2022.

“We will progressively convert our manufacturing sites toward increased use of renewable energy sources. Recent achievements include Coveris Kufstein generating 100% of its power needs from renewable sources, Coveris Alexandria sourcing power from water energy and Coveris Pirtó switching to renewable energy,” he says. 

Coveris Pirtó, in Hungary, switched to sources such as solar energy and biomass at the beginning of this year. As a result, the company claims its carbon emissions at the site have dropped by approximately 700,000 metric tons – dropping its Scope 2 emissions to zero. 

Technical support 
A number of Coveris’ latest product innovations were produced with the help of the company’s network of industry-leading analytical R&D centers and labs, including its Food Science Lab in the UK and Film Science Lab network across the UK and Europe. 

The network offers onsite analysis, testing and development for the validation of mechanical and seal performance across all products.

“The newly introduced LCA (Life Cycle Analysis tool) will serve as the basis to provide information on the eco-performance of our packaging solutions,” explains Bolom.  

Coveris’ reduced plastic, recyclable PE barrier monolaminate for cheese – under its MonoFlexBE brand – this year helped support Iceland’s commitment to becoming the UK’s first plastic-neutral supermarket with a total plastic weight saving of around 7 tons per annum and made 41 tons of plastic “easily recyclable.”

By Louis Gore-Langton