PAPER PACKAGING
Freezing-out plastic, freezing-in paper!
Today Iceland is freezing out its use of unnecessary plastic with the launch of special paper packaging from Mondi. As a global leader in packaging and paper, Mondi has teamed up with the UK’s number 1 frozen food retailer to provide renewable, recyclable packaging in a move that further validates Mondi’s approach of using “paper where possible, plastic when useful”. Iceland is replacing its previous packaging with Mondi’s versatile functional barrier paper across a number of its ranges. The first newly packaged product to hit the shelves earlier this month was the retailer’s frozen chicken dippers, which reduces the amount of plastic used per year by 80%.
Stuart Lendrum, Head of Packaging, Quality and Food Safety at Iceland added: “We’ve been bold in our aims to remove plastic: we were the first UK retailer to publish our plastic footprint along with our pledge to ultimately become plastic free.
More versatile, functional, barrier paper
To deliver on this “Doing it Right” promise, we knew we would need the expertise of global packaging suppliers like Mondi. Their collaborative EcoSolutions approach meant that our teams worked together to consider all elements of the product manufacturing and delivery journey. We now have a sustainable solution that is efficient to use, protects the products and meets the expectations of our customers.”
The functional barrier paper is made from renewable resources with Mondi managing the paper production and coating in-house, providing a fully integrated solution. It is easy for consumers to recycle the paper in existing waste streams and as paper is the most widely recycled material in the world – 74% of paper and 83% of paper-based packaging in Europe are recycled – the solution ensures that the paper can be recycled at the end of its life, contributing to a circular economy.
30 SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING NEWS
Importantly, Mondi’s functional barrier paper offers complete product protection, ensuring the product has the same shelf life as it did with its previous packaging.
