No Change to Existing Packaging Recycling Targets-www.packaging-machinery007.com

This week the UK Government’s Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has agreed to maintain existing targets for packaging recovery and recycling 2009. The decision to stick with existing targets is due to the effects of the recession which is expected to impact upon packaging levels says DEFTA. In a bid to help create more sustainable food packaging, supermarket Asda has announced it is joining INCPEN (The Industry Council for Packaging and the Environment), one of the UK’s leading non-government organisations working to make more sustainable packaging throughout the supply chain. Asda has to date cut its packaging on own label products by 25% in the last 12 months and will now pool its operational knowledge with other retailers and suppliers to work towards the common aim at INCPEN. Also this week, Graham Packaging launched an “intelligent” bottle, as result of three-year collaboration between technology company Life Technologies and designers IDEO. The pack has been designed to be used by scientists working with cell cultures and other life science products in sterile conditions, referred to as GIBCO cell culture products. The new containers are available in 100ml, 500ml and 1 litre bottles and improve efficiency while reducing errors and contamination of samples, says its manufacturers. From lab packaging to food packaging which this week saw the launch of a new product range and new packaging design by fair-trade dried fruit company Tropical Wholefoods. The new Fairtrade Apricot Kernels come in three different flavours – natural, tamari roast and chilli roast. Tropical Wholefoods and design agency Simmer worked with illustrative artist Amanda Enright on the new packaging. Chocolate and confectionary giant Cadbury has also created a new look for its Cadbury’s Roses selection box. Designers Futurebrand have targeted the box design to women over 35, a simplified version of the current packet which now comes in a lighter blue shade and a contemporary take on the emblematic rose. Tea maker Twinings has chosen compostable packaging film NatureFlex to wrap one of its biggest tea products called Everyday. The switch to the cellulose film material is part of a strategy to use more sustainable packaging materials to cut waste. Natureflex is made from wool and can be broken down in any compost environment within weeks, offers resistance to grease and oil and contains a wide heat-seal range.