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Unilever has switched its Carte D'Or ice cream brand in the UK to paper-based packaging from Huhtamaki. The company aims to save more than 900 tonnes of new plastic every year in the UK. Whether the paper container is really more sustainable than the previously used plastic packaging remains an open question and has caused a lot of discussion on social media.
The paper for the Huhtamaki The new packaging produced by the manufacturer comes from sustainably managed forests and is PEFC-certified (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification). According to the manufacturer, both the cup and the lid can be recycled as normal household paper. But even these Paper solution cannot do without a proportion of plastic. An inner coating should ensure that the flavour and quality of the product are not affected after the changeover and that the packaging also remains stable and durable. Whilst the thin coating should not affect the recyclability, a Additional plastic sealing of the lid currently not recyclable, according to the company. However, a team of experts is already working on switching to a fully recyclable solution.
Paper packaging has been on the rise in the food sector for several years now. While experts from industry, politics and science are critical of the trend towards substituting pure plastic packaging with paper composites, consumers are happy to buy products packaged in paper. A study by the Society for Packaging Market Research (GVM) analysed last year how the switch from plastic packaging to paper composites affects the circular economy. The material mix of paper and plastic is often advertised as „less plastic“, suggesting to consumers that it is particularly environmentally friendly. According to the GVM study, the increasing proportion of material mix packaging despite the high fibre content of usually over 70 percent, but often problems with recycling. It is particularly regrettable when easily recyclable plastic packaging is replaced.
Criticism of replacing recyclable packaging
In a reaction to the report in packaging journal, the packaging consultancy writes FuturePackLab, a network of researchers, brand experts, designers, material and packaging technicians and lawyers, is precisely the role model function of a group like Unilever is problematic here. A report like the one from Carte D'Or suggests that such a changeover is the way to achieve more sustainable packaging. Start-ups in particular often rely on the big players and would also make paper their preferred packaging solution.
The message from Carte D'Or has further Critical reactions has been triggered. A follower on LinkedIn writes that this is probably a Recyclable PP packaging only replaced by composite paper packaging for marketing reasons has. Another says that 93 per cent less plastic sounds great at first, but actually means a paper/plastic composite with seven per cent plastic content. Now it all depends on which streams are used to collect such packaging. After all, the next recycling step depends on whether it is collected in the blue or yellow bin. Another reader says: „The only thing that helps here is Consistent education. Unfortunately, it will probably be difficult to reach as many consumers with appropriate campaigns as Unilever did with its misleading less-plastic declaration.“
„The attentive reader may have missed the fact that this packaging is used in the UK. Since 1 April, a plastic tax of GBP 200 per tonne has been levied in the UK on plastic packaging that does not contain at least 30 per cent recycled material and is either manufactured in the UK or imported into the country. With this solution, Unilever saves itself the plastic tax, as the company cannot prove that its polypropylene box contains 30 per cent recycled material. Saving plastic is a declared goal of Unilever, so they can tick the box.“
Sonja Bähr, Tilisco-Packaging expert
As far as the recyclability of paper-based laminates is concerned, the following applies: The better the plastic layer can be separated from the cardboard in the pulp, the better the pure fibre yield. Sonja Bähr: „With a plastic content of around seven per cent, this is at least a smarter solution in terms of good recycling than all the functional papers or barrier papers that are currently being used to replace plastic bags for Smarties and Ritter Sport, for example. Here, a large proportion of the polymers go into the recyclate with the fibre during recycling and have a negative impact on quality.“
The Demand for plastic-free packaging solutions continues unabated despite all criticism. Manufacturers react to this: Huhtamaki recently announced the conversion of its German site in Alf from plastics to smooth moulded fibre (SMF) products. The automated production facility is expected to manufacture up to 3.5 billion fibre products per year, making it the first large-scale production facility of its kind in Europe.
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