Coca-Cola Unveil New Eco-friendly Packaging Design

On October 22, Coca-Cola said that the company will use bottles with attatched bottle caps starting in 2023. 

Goal: to better collect bottle caps for recycling. 

Along with this new initiative, from April 2022, 50 cl bottles will be launched on the market. These bottles will be made of 100% recycled PET plastic.

"As part of our new sustainable packaging roadmap, we have unveiled a further ambition to accelerate towards 100% recycled or renewable materials in all our plastic bottles," said Franses, the vice president of sustainability of Coca Cola, "This will require strong collaboration and joint innovation with our packaging suppliers. By 2030 this would help us to remove more than 200,000 tonnes of virgin plastic from our packaging supply chain each year.

Be carbon neutral by 2040

Because of the carbon footprint of its products, Coca-Cola is often criticized by the non-governmental organization Break Free From Plastic. According to this NGO, Coca-Cola's greenhouse gas emissions will be ahead of Pepsi and Nestlé for the third consecutive year, the latter being the company with the most plastic pollution in 2020.

For many years, Coca-Cola has been seeking to make up for it through optimized models. In December 2020, the company announced that it had set itself a goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2040. An intermediate deadline of 2030 has also been set: on this day, the group’s goal is to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 30%.

The acceleration of Coca-Cola's green strategy goes hand-in-hand with the tightening of plastic legislation. France has adopted the goal of "eliminating single-use plastic packaging by 2040". The Ministry of Ecological Transformation also hopes to reduce this type of plastic packaging by 20% by 2025.

Bio-based PET, PEF

In addition to the attached-cap design which is more convenient for the recycling of plastic bottles, Coca-Cola also had a corresponding layout in bio-based PET and PEF.

Avantium, a leading producer of bio-based PEF, opened a PEF pilot plant in Geleen, the Netherlands, in December 2011. The agreement requires Avantium to conduct commercial-scale PEF production for Coca-Cola's next-generation Plant Bottle™ packaging.

According to statistics, in 2012, about 8% of Coca-Cola's PET plastic bottles were based on bio-based material technology. As of June 2013, Coca-Cola has distributed more than 15 billion first-generation bio-based material bottles (30% bio-based material bottles) in 25 countries/regions.

Primary and Secondary Packaging

 

"Primary and secondary packaging"

What is primary packaging?

Primary packaging refers to the packaging layer closest to the product and is the last line of protection of the product from the outside world. Examples include: potato chip packaging bags, wine bottles, jars, chocolate bar wrapping paper. Primary packaging has direct contact with the packaged content. Sometimes the primary packaging needs to be completely removed (for example, sandwich packaging) before consumption;  While sometimes, it will stay put (for example, wine bottles). But as far as FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) are concerned, almost all the goods are inseparable from primary packaging.

What is secondary packaging?

Secondary packaging is the one over the primary packaging of the product. It can be a large package of potato chips that contains multiple small bags, a shrink package that packs multiple boxes of beverages, or a cardboard gift box with canned beer.

What is tertiary packaging?

A tertiary packaging is the third layer of product packaging, which is rarely seen by end consumers (except in some cheap retail wholesale stores, maybe). It can be a shrink-wrapped pallet that can be used by distribution centers to transport products in bulk from manufacturers to retailers.

 Let's take wine packaging as an example:

Wine needs to be packed into bottles (primary packaging) first in winery's bottle-filling lines, a certain number of wine bottles will then be placed in gift boxes or cartons (secondary packaging), the cartons will then be put into pallets, and shrink-wrapped for shipping (tertiary packaging) .

What's the Best Packing Material for Fragile Items

Fragile items are quite different from ordinary products, and more care should be given to during handling and transportation. Under normal circumstances, fragile goods should be protected both inside and outside before shipping. 

How to packing fragile items?

External packaging

External packaging, usually cartons, is the protective packaging that goes around outside of the fragile items. This is the most commonly used and necessary way to avoid damage to the fragile items in transit. The outer packaging cartons should have strong compression resistance and non-deformation ability, and can effectively protect fragile items from damage during normal storage, stacking, and transportation.

However, outer packaging cartons are from enough to protect fragile items. Various happenings such as bumps and shaking will inevitably be encountered in transit(You can't expect porters or warehouse worker to treat your fragile goods with special care amid mountains of boxes). 

Inner Cushioning

Therefore, internal cushioning for fragile products is extremely necessary. Simply put, the function of the inner packaging is to isolate the fragile product from direct contact with the packaging carton, and fix it to prevent it from shaking in the box. Therefore, many people choose cushioning filling packaging materials as protective packaging materials for fragile products. Cushioning packaging materials can return to the original shape (or approximately) in a short time after being subjected to external impact, This can further provide a buffering effect and protect the fragile items from damage by shaking, bumps, vibrations, etc.

What's the best packing material for fragile items?

Features an excellent internal cushioning packaging material needs to have: 

Why Do We Need Food Packaging?

What is the food packaging?

Food packaging is packaging for food. It is an integral part of food commodities. One of the main projects in the whole industrial food processing. It protects food and prevents damage from biological, chemical, and physical external factors when the food leaves the factory to the consumer. It also has the function of maintaining the stable quality of the food itself. It is convenient for food consumption. It is also the first impression show of food to make on consumers...

Why do we need food packaging?

Proper packaging of food will bring great convenience and benefits to producers, storage and transporters, sales operators and consumers. In a nutshell, food packaging can achieve the following direct effects:

(1) Protect food and prevent food spoilage. 

Through scientific and reasonable selection of packaging materials and packaging technology, the food is separated from the surrounding environment, thereby eliminating environmental factors (oxygen, humidity, light, temperature, and microorganisms) on food. Avoid physical and chemical changes in the food, ensure the stable quality of the food in the circulation process, and extend the shelf life and storage period of the food.

Zhejiang bans the use of non-degradable plastic packaging from 2022

 Recently, Zhejiang Provincial Development and Reform Commission of China issued a notice on the public solicitation of opinions on the "Zhejiang Province Express Mail Excessive Packaging Management Work Plan (2021-2022)". The draft was jointly drafted by eight departments including the Provincial Development and Reform Commission and the Provincial Postal Administration.

The "Plan" adheres to the concept of green and low-carbon circular development, and in accordance with the overall idea of ​​"prohibition, restriction, reduction, recycling, and reduction", it highlights precise policy implementation, closed-loop management, strengthens standard guidance, law enforcement supervision, mobilizes the entire society to act together, and steadily promotes mail express mail Excessive packaging and random packaging management.

China packaging demands fall short of expectation, will the "Golden September" fail to come?

Recently, waste paper fell again from the rebound high, falling for several days, until today it eased slightly. Today, the mainstream of the national waste market remains stable, and individual manufacturers have mixed prices. Fujian Shanying and Anhui Xinguang in East China edged up by 30, while Central China Hubei Rongcheng, Hunan Tianhe, and Xinjinlong dropped by 20-30. Shanying's Fujian base today raised individual specifications by 30 yuan/ton, and the yellowboard A grade price was 2530 yuan/ton.

According to statistics, today's national waste paper index is 2529.0. At present, there is a strong wait-and-see atmosphere in the market. Leading paper companies have maintained stable receipts, and individual manufacturers have adjusted their prices slightly. Recently, the arrival of paper mills has been reduced compared with the previous period, and manufacturers’ inventories have continued to be low. Today, the Nine Dragons base has received a discount of 50 yuan/ton for finished paper, supply and demand Both face the strong support of waste paper prices, and it is expected that the national waste market will temporarily stop falling and stabilize, or there will be a slight room for increase.

At the same time, as another source of raw paper-based raw materials, pulp prices have been sluggish recently, and the decline in pulp futures prices and sluggish demand have put double pressure on the Chinese pulp market.

Downstream industry rebounds, pulp futures rose sharply and exceeded the 6,300 yuan

 Last Wednesday, pulp futures prices surged 5.01% to 6,366 yuan/ton. In the downstream raw paper market, price increase letters are frequently issued, and the rebound in the price of white cardboard still supports the pulp price. At the same time, with the arrival of the Q3 industry peak season, the downstream boom has rebounded. The operating rate of downstream pulp mills is expected to increase, and the market's demand for pulp is expected to increase. In addition, the increase in external quotations has also provided a rebound momentum for domestic pulp futures.

 The analysis believes that the main event drivers come from three:

First, since entering the third quarter, the wildfire situation in Canada's B.C. province has not been significantly improved. Just one week after Canfor announced that its B.C. plant would reduce its production capacity of 115 million board feet in the third quarter, Interfor also announced that its sawmill in B.C. was facing the risk of shutting down due to local wildfires and raw material supply problems. According to current information, Interfor expects to cut at least 50 million board feet of production capacity in August. Depending on the changes in weather conditions, there may be further production cuts and shutdowns in September.