Schur Pack designer ny kartonemballage uden plastik med A. Espersen

Forberedelserne til producentansvaret for emballage er i fuld gang hos VANAs medlemmer. Og selvom der stadig er mange uafklarede spørgsmål i forhold til lovgivningen, så anbefaler vi at bruge ventetiden fornuftigt; f.eks. til at få undersøgt, om mængderne eller designet af de emballager, der bruges i dag, kan minimeres eller sammensættes på en bedre måde for miljøet – og pengepungen.

Schur Pack har lige siden 1950’erne haft et samarbejde med A. Espersen A/S om at udvikle og producere emballageløsninger til deres detail fiskeretter, og de er nu en af Schur Packs klart største samarbejdspartnere. De fleste af Espersens produkter er blevet pakket direkte i en kartonemballage produceret af Schur Pack. For bedst muligt at holde varerne friske har kasserne været belagt med PE (Poly Ethylene), hvilket er et tyndt plastiklag. Det har skabt en hygiejnebarriere, der blandt andet sikrer, at fedt fra fiskene ikke trænger ind i kartonen og forurener emballagen.

Mindre plastik og mere genanvendeligt

Men over de sidste to år har Schur Pack i samarbejde med Espersen skabt en ny emballage, der kan erstatte plastiklaget med en anden barriere. Det har resulteret i en ny vandbaseret coating, der er helt fri for plastik. Barrieren sørger stadig for, at fedt fra fiskeretten, der både kan være paneret eller butterdejssvøbt, ikke trænger ind i emballagen.

Schur Pack produces approx. 50 million boxes annually for A. Espersen A/S, and therefore it is not possible that you can change the entire production from one day to the next. Today, however, Schur Pack uses approximately 125 tons of plastic a year to produce packaging for Espersen, and the goal is therefore that the new plastic-free packaging will be rolled out completely by 2025, when the producer responsibility for packaging comes into force. The ambitious goal has been set in preparation the large fish producer will be able to remove plastic completely from its carton packaging as soon as possible.

When the solution is fully rolled out, it primarily helps to make the packaging more recyclable and thus sustainable. Without the use of plastic, the recycling of the packaging becomes more straightforward since it can be sorted as pure cardboard after cleaning food scraps.

"Just as we have done in our collaboration with A. Espersen A/S, we always take the individual customer's situation and wishes as our starting point. We have a close dialogue with our customers so that we together can create the best solution for the specific need. In relation to the extended producer responsibility, this process becomes even more crucial. There will be an increasing need to create innovative and flexible packaging solutions because of the forthcoming legislation. Here we, as a company, must among other things, deal with a new tax based on the environmental friendliness of packaging, says Søren Schiermer Westergaard, Sales Manager at Schur Pack, Denmark