Finnish dairy giant Valio has announced that it has teamed up with packaging firm Stora Enso to trial biocomposite lids for its crème fraiche and quark tubs.
The pilot project will commence this autumn and aims to test the effectiveness of the new packaging material.
Valio aims to distribute 10,000 reusable lids to Finnish homes to help families in preserving leftover food.
Head of packaging development at Valio, Tanja Virtanen-Leppä, said, "The leftover crème fraiche sauce for fish, made on a cabin weekend, is now easy to pack away in a cooler with this lid instead of throwing the leftovers away. This new lid can be reused after it’s been washed."
Alternative Packaging Solution
Stora Enso has developed DuraSense, a material made of wood fibre that has been used to manufacture the reusable lids for Valio's products.
It can reduce the plastic footprint of a product by up to 60%.
Biocomposite materials have properties that are similar to conventional plastics, and the lids are durable, hygienic, reusable, and dishwasher proof.
'A Larger Concept'
"We were the first in the world to start using fully plant-based one-litre milk cartons in 2015. Last year, we converted all of our 250 million gable-top milk, yoghurt, cream, and sour milk packages to fully plant-based ones," Virtanen-Leppä, added. "These packages are a part of a larger concept where Valio is aiming towards carbon-neutral milk, i.e. resetting milk’s carbon footprint in 2035."
Roughly six percent of the food bought by Finnish households end up in the dustbin, amounting to around 150 million kilograms of food waste annually.
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
