Kraft lightens packaging load by 116m kg
The US food giant declared its Packaging Eco-Calculator had been instrumental in seeing it shed packing weight through more efficient design. The greatest opportunity to influence the environmental impact based on a package's size is early in the design phase, said Kraft.
The packing weight reduction – equivalent to more than 150 fully-loaded jumbo jets - has been achieved two years ahead of schedule across its global operations.
In the US, the Oscar Mayer Deli Creations packaging was redesigned with 30 per cent less paperboard. The move is forecast to result in 1.2m pounds (500,000 kg) less packaging being sent to landfills annually. Kraft said consumer reaction had also been positive as the new design was considered to be more convenient and took up less space.
Removal of packaging layers for Milka chocolate bars in Europe has reduced packaging weight by 60 per cent, eliminating 5.7m pounds (2,600 metric tonnes) of packaging material per year. The company plans to roll out the new design in Latin America.
Its Australian salad dressing bottles have also been redesigned to eliminate more than 100,000 pounds (45,000 kilograms) of plastic per year.
Smarter packaging ingredients
Kraft said it has also worked on ways to increase the recycled content and recyclability of the packaging for its products.
In the UK, it recently began selling Kenco coffee in refill bags to complement glass jars. The bags use 97 per cent less packaging material by weight than the glass containers, and less energy in the packaging conversion process.
In North America, it changed a number of its coffee brands from steel cans composite paperboard, which weigh 30 per cent less, use 50 percent recycled content and are expected to eliminate 8.5m pounds (3.9m kg) of packaging.
Jean Spence, the company’s executive vice president, research, development and quality, said: "Our global team of employees is doing a phenomenal job creating opportunities to reduce packaging material while assuring convenience and safety. We've invented a tool to help us design more efficiently. And we're finding smarter source materials, reducing our footprint and thinking differently about packaging end of life. We're sharing ideas, challenging and motivating one another, so this is truly a collaborative team effort."
