Compostable food wrap

Foldable wrapper / Source: Amcor

AluminiumFood & BeverageNorth AmericaPackagingPaperSouth America

3 MINUTE READ

Nadine Smith

WHAT WE SAY:

When specifying a compostable material, it is always good to challenge the reasons why. Compostables should be used when they are helping food waste and residues into the composting system. This is a shining example.

In collaboration with Grupo Agroindustrial Numar, packaging giant Amcor has created a flexible, all-paper butter and margarine wrapper. While plastic tubs and composite wraps are most likely to end up either incinerated or in landfill, this solution can go right into the compost bin with your leftovers. We do not yet know how widely this will be rolled out, but with a serious R&D budget in play and global reach, this could scale at lightning speed.

KEY FACTS:

Amcor has created a 100% paper, compostable wrap for Grupo Agroindustrial Numar S.A.’s butter and margarine products.
The flexible Paper wrap is a replacement for the existing paper and Aluminium composite, which cannot be recycled or composted.
The new wrapper is home and commercially compostable, according to TÜV standards.

DIVE DEEPER:

Flexible wrappers commercially available for butter and margarine packaging are typically made from a composite of paper and aluminium, making them non-recyclable and non-compostable. Even when a more traditional approach is taken and only parchment paper is used, bleaching means the wrapper cannot be safely composted as the chlorine releases dioxins as it biodegrades.
While producers of plastic butter and margarine tubs are beginning to use a percentage of recycled plastic in their products and promoting them as being recyclable, the fact that just 9% of all plastic produced has ever been recycled means this is not a sustainable substitute for composite wrappers.
To overcome the problems associated with the two options, Amcor’s solution for Grupo Agroindustrial Numar S.A. is made entirely from paper.
The paper solution is, Amcor claims, just as effective as the product it is replacing, therefore butter and margarine have the same shelf life and the packaging remains grease-proof.
The all-paper wrapper is 38% lighter and delivers a number of reductions in environmental impact. Based upon an Asset life cycle assessment (LCA), with a cradle-to-gate approach, Amcor claims the production and manufacture of the all-paper solution versus an aluminium and paper structure decreases non-renewable energy use by 78%, reduces the carbon footprint by 81% and reduces water consumption by 71%.
Grupo Agroindustrial Numar S.A. has operations in Central America, Colombia and Mexico. It specialises in the production and marketing of over 50 commercial and industrial brands of margarine, butter, vegetable oil and coffee. If rolled out to household brands, such as Numar, Greenfields, Clover and Cascade, the paper wrapper could have an instant, sizeable presence on supermarket shelves.
In 2018, Amcor pledged that by 2025 all of its packaging will be recyclable or reusable. It recently revised this list to include compostable.
Each year, Amcor invests USD 100 million into the research and development of more sustainable packaging. In 2022, it launched AmFibre, a new platform for its paper-based packaging.

Key Design Considerations:

Scrutinise the supply chain

Consider the raw material used to make the paper and prioritise certifications like FSC and PEFC. Pulp and paper manufacturing can be highly energy intensive, so tracing and knowing your manufacturers and their processes is a must.

Consider any additives

Unsurprisingly, Amcor does not share the secret for its flexible, foldable wrapper, but savvy designers should always question the finer details like sizing additives, which can come from fossil-based sources.

Access to composting facilities

If paper ends up in landfill, it can take decades to biodegrade if the conditions are not right. If your consumer base has limited access to municipal composting facilities, consider an educational piece for home composting, like Calon Wen or a partnership with an organisation, such as ShareWaste.

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