New sustainable packaging will extend guacamole’s shelf life by 15% thanks to labels and additives extracted from the avocado itself. The GUACAPACK Project aims to use renewable sources to develop an innovative biodegradable packaging system that includes barrier labels and antioxidant additives from avocado waste.
SEAclic is a project developed by the German company Storopack, which has created a packaging technology suitable for temperature-sensitive food products, such as fish. The bio-based version of the Storopack SEAclic Box is made from a new, compostable plastic.
Music business can be circular, too! WMfono makes vinyl records from the waste that remains after cutting other records. Kayax label then packs the discs in recycled paper and employs a protection film made from maize.
The Circular Economy and Society Hub of Utrecht University has prepared a white paper analysing the key strengths and weaknesses of the way in which Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is organised in the Netherlands. Based on this analysis, it then sets out three pathways for improving EPR with a view to enabling it to contribute to the circular economy goals:
Optimising EPR as an instrument for post-user circularity
Re-designing EPR as an instrument for circular economy transformations
Beewraps by Malu is a food packaging material designed and produced by a Polish family company to replace food foil, aluminum foil or disposable plastic containers with a biodegradable and reusable alternative.
Vanheede Biomass Solutions processes packaged or unpackaged food items that, for various reasons, are no longer fit for human or animal consumption. Fermentable residue is gathered and processed at a bio-methanisation plant in order to generate green energy.
In 2015, the European Commission adopted the Circular Economy Action Plan to help stimulate the transition towards circular economy. The growing number of plastic products and packaging marketed as ‘biodegradable’ or ‘(home) compostable’ raises the question of the extent to which biodegradability and compostability of plastic is beneficial in the context of the transition towards a circular economy.
The study assesses this question, identifying conditions in which (home) compostability of products could be of added value, compared to reuse and other forms of recovery. The results indicate weak evidence in favour of beneficial agronomics associated with compostable plastic material. Choices of materials for products and packaging should prioritise recyclability over compostability.
Mutualia, a social services and medical care provider in the Basque Country, Spain, has installed water fountains connected to the public water network to use tap water instead of buying bottled water.
