Smurfit Kappa switches to sustainable food packaging

Smurfit Kappa, Dublin, a provider of paper packaging solutions, has launched a sustainable new pack that keeps frozen and chilled foods fresh throughout the supply chain.

Made from a 100-percent-paper-based combination of Hexacomb and corrugated, the Thermo Box keeps frozen food at temperatures similar to expanded polystyrene (EPS) boxes, Smurfit Kappa reports in a news release.

Smurfit Kappa was approached by Patani Global Food B.V., a global supplier of fresh and frozen foods including vegetables, meat and fish and nonfood products for the catering industry. Patani Global Food B.V. ships goods from Amsterdam to worldwide locations, including to the Antilles Islands in the Caribbean, using EPS boxes. However, a rise in the amount of litter that was washing up on the beaches in the region had led to a ban on plastic waste. So, the company wanted an alternative solution that would not harm the environment.

Smurfit Kappa’s new Thermo Box is 100 percent recyclable. According to Smurfit Kappa, it also offers greater flexibility than EPS given it can be stored flat to reduce warehouse costs, different sizes can be easily created and the corrugated exterior offers branding opportunities.

The product is the latest addition to Smurfit Kappa’s Better Planet Packaging portfolio of products, many of which are popular substitutions for single-use plastic. Launched in 2018, Smurfit Kappa’s Better Planet Packaging initiative seeks to reduce packaging waste through design, research and development and industry expertise.

“Smurfit Kappa undertook an analysis of our supply chain to grasp all the challenges and complexities. We did a series of temperature tests to compare the new pack with the EPS box and the results showed that the Thermo Box is a really excellent product that more than fits the brief. The average temperature was even kept lower for a longer time than when using the EPS boxes,” says Patrick Oostveen, managing director at Patani Global Food B.V.

“This project was the result of a successful collaborative process between Smurfit Kappa and Patani Global Food B.V. Our starting point, as always, was to see how we could provide a completely biodegradable product that would not compromise on any of the required functionality,” says Arco Berkenbosch, Smurfit Kappa vice president of innovation and development. “The paper-based Better Planet Packaging solution we came up with draws strength from its corrugated and honeycomb capabilities and offers significant potential for both fresh and frozen goods and, indeed, the e-commerce sector.”