Partnering to produce more sustainable product packaging

Sustainability has always been part of the partners' collaboration with the focus being on minimising the amount of packaging material without sacrificing strength and the quality required to protect the product. "Sustainability in packaging isn't just about using less plastic," says Anne-Corine Vlaardingerbroek, Group Sustainability & Corporate Affairs Manager, De Heus. "It's also about ensuring that packaging can keep the product safe and intact." That's why it's important to choose packaging material that balances minimum environmental impact with maximum product protection. This also contributes to efficient production and lower CO2 emissions.

In producing packaging - sustainable or conventional - there are many challenges. "As well as focusing on strength and quality, you have to ensure that feed bags work properly with the filling machines. Technical specifications of the bags have to be optimised so that machine output is maximised and loading time of containers is minimised," says Jan van de Werken, Procurement Manager Packaging Materials, De Heus. "You also have to think about what happens to the bag when the product falls downwards into it." LC Packaging and De Heus also have to take into account how the bags will be transported. Whilst they're shipped to overseas destinations in freight containers, they often make the last-mile journey to the farmer on the back of a pick-up truck or a motor scooter, so the bag has to be able to withstand this kind of handling.

Another consideration is printability of the bag material, which is important for branding and marketing. The look of the bag can have a big impact on brand perception, particularly in developing countries like Africa where small changes to the bag's appearance can be seen as indicative of product quality. An unfamiliar colour of stitching or a different shade of white can cause end users to doubt the product's reliability, damaging De Heus' credibility as an animal feed producer. Consistency of appearance is everything. "For a company like De Heus, you need more than just basic printing," says Dennis Palache, Senior Account Manager, LC Packaging, "You need high-standard, full-colour printing with photo quality."

There are other challenges in addition to technical and visual considerations. "There are new regulations governing packaging in Europe," says Lotte Mastwijk, Head of Sustainability, LC Packaging. "The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation will soon be in force. It sets targets to reduce packaging waste overall, and mandates specific requirements for packaging sustainability, including recyclability, recycled content, reuse and minimal packaging. Furthermore, it ensures that Extended Producer Responsibility schemes are rolled out across all EU member states. Each country can implement these schemes in their own way, so we monitor these developments to ensure that we focus on the right innovation approach to reach our sustainability targets."

The way different countries comply with sustainable packaging regulations varies considerably. For example, a great deal of packaging is reused in Spain, the Netherlands and the UK, while other countries are looking at a money deposit scheme. "When it comes to sustainable packaging, there's no one-size-fits-all solution," says Anne-Corine. "So we look at the local context and set local goals and targets. We talk to the business units and discuss what the local regulations are and what's feasible and realistic. And then we talk to Jan and LC Packaging: Can we look at recycled content in our packaging and if that's possible, what more can we do?"

This local approach is how the partners in the Netherlands initiated a pilot project 18 months ago in Ivory Coast. The management of the local business unit in Ivory Coast was interested in participating in sustainable packaging trials, so this was chosen as the test market. The fully controlled pilot focuses on increasing the percentage of recycled material in Koudijs animal feed bags and reducing the amount of virgin material to make them more sustainable. "Together with LC Packaging, we developed bags composed of recycled material to evaluate how they function in the market," says Jan. "The project studies how we can improve the bags' sustainability without affecting product quality, safety, branding and sales." The partners are also looking at the maximum achievable percentage of recycled material without having a negative impact on brand perception and sales.

The bag being tested in the pilot is partially made from biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP), a plastic film that offers high tensile strength, excellent optics and good barrier properties. The bag is composed of multiple layers, including an inner layer containing 30% recycled material. This layered BOPP structure allows the recycled plastic to be added to the bag without significant loss of strength and functionality, which isn't the case with a conventional polypropylene animal feed bag. BOPP is also ideal for printing. Although the use of recycled materials can cause subtle colour changes, like a greyer shade of white, the content of 30% recycled material doesn't have a significant effect on brand image and perception.

It's difficult to draw firm conclusions on the first results of the pilot, but at this point De Heus and LC Packaging will continue to monitor developments and share further updates and results once the project is complete and the bags are permanently launched on the market.

"This pilot is a great example of how De Heus and LC Packaging work together to find sustainable innovations that will work in the market," says Allard van Asselt, Product Group Manager, LC Packaging. "It also shows the confidence we have in one another. Jan not only talks with us about packaging issues, he also visits our production facilities in India to see how we operate." In the same way, LC Packaging visits the countries where De Heus sells its products to see how the bags are used by customers and therefore the needs may vary per country. "Our collaboration and partnership is all about transparency," conclude Jan and Allard.  

"It's great that people at both De Heus and LC Packaging are highly motivated to make a difference in the world," says Anne-Corine. "Assuming the pilot in Ivory Coast is a success, we will have a new more sustainable bag. And then we can look at how we can introduce it to other business units and markets."