FOR POUCHES TO SUCCEED,
SUSTAINABILITY MUST BE A FRONT-AND-CENTER ISSUE

With a difficult mixture of materials, the pouch industry has consistently grappled with the issue of sustainability and how to meet the onslaught of new imperatives from brand owner and retailer customers.

But sustainability has emerged as a major opportunity for pouch converters, one that many at the Global Pouch Forum said would become “business as usual” and add value to pouches. Besides the pioneering launch of a mono-material pouch by Method Home at the conference (see the separate story in the May 30 issue of Packaging Strategies Newsletter), other sustainability imperatives are stepping to the front burner among pouch converters and brand owners.

Co-keynoter Charles Murray, president/ceo of PPi Technologies Global, Sarasota, FL, set the tone by stating that total product life cycle costs should be a key focus when working with brand owners and OEM suppliers. In many cases, pouches can meet life cycle needs if they ensure low energy usage during production, focus on reduced storage space and cube utilization, and showcase the idea that one truckload of pouches equates to 25 truckloads of rigid containers.

“There is a lot of work to do getting sustainability down,” Murray emphasized. “But we must continue to show that (solutions) work and are both good for me and for the Earth.”

In a probing discussion on how flexible packaging converters can meet sustainability challenges, Sal Pellingra, innovation and marketing director of Cincinnati-based Ampac Flexibles, said pouch converters must “improve the product recipe” and focus on lightweighting as a key driver.

That quest was put into greater perspective by Manteno, IL-based Zip-Pak, which commissioned a study by Franklin Associates on the lifecycle advantages of reclosable bags compared to bag-in-box applications for cereal and other uses. According to business development manager Bob Stolmeier, the results showed pouches used 85 percent less energy and generated 3.5 times less waste than bags-in-box. However, the study did not detail the materials used to match up packages in each format, a potential failure to provide apples-to-apples cost comparisons.

"There is a lot of work to do getting sustainability down," Charles Murray emphasized. "But we must continue to show that (solutions) work and are both good for me and for the Earth."

Several members of a Brand Owner & Retailer “Wants, Needs & Desires” Panel Discussion said sustainability could make or break the future of pouches in their operations. “In the past, 99 percent of our efforts went to cost savings,” said Chris Wolpert, principal engineer for innovations and sustainability with Dial Corp., Tempe, AZ. “This year, sustainability is become a big and more holistic project. It’s really driving a lot of our internal efforts.”

Packaging Strategies’ Perspective: The efforts of Ampac, Zip-Pak and others to showcase the sustainability of pouches are admirable, especially if those packages emphasize lightweight and cube utilization. However, many are questioning the use of LCAs as comparative marketing tools, rather than as internal evaluation and process improvement tools, the purpose for which they are actually intended.

KEEP YOUR EYES FAR DISTANT
FOR EVEN MORE RADICAL TECHNOLOGIES

While some new technologies could represent baby steps for films and pouches, there are several technologies and market applications that could be more revolutionary.

Among those is a project under development at Clemson University to develop a new cast film that uses fish gelatin mixed with clay nanoparticles as a barrier material for pouches. Duncan Darby, associate professor and associate director of Clemson’s Center for Flexible Packaging, unveiled the technology at the 2008 Global Pouch Forum and said that while it was in its pre-commercial phase, the work shows promise.

The Clemson scientists are mixing the relatively inexpensive gelatin material with clay to offer a better oxygen barrier in a multi-layer laminate pouch. The gelatin material comes from fish byproducts and is highly plentiful, Darby said. The film, cast from a liquid, is mixed with the clay material. Initial tests at Clemson have shown it to be a good material to protect the contents of food and beverages in pouches and could open new market opportunities, Darby said.

Another issue with pouches has been a problem with microwaveability in retort applications, a problem addressed by Dai Nippon Printing Co. The Japanese company is coming out with a self-venting retort pouch that offers a sealed pattern with a pleated fold and a ventilation slit that helps self-ventilate the package without opening, said spokeswoman Atsuko Takahagi at the Forum.

The package provides impact strength and is heat-resistant during the retort process, making it applicable for pasta sauces, soup, prepared foods and flavored rice applications, she said. The company plans to launch the retort pouch globally and is looking for brand-owner partners.

Danny Beard of Packaging Specialists said aseptic packaging applications for multi-serve liquids offer another market growth opportunity. Beard mentioned the growth of foodservice applications for aseptic pouches and noted that a company he works with, International Dispensing, has a new SafePak multi-serve dispenser that provides a shelf-stable solution for aseptic bag-in-box packaging and can hold up to 4 liters of liquid.

“In the United States, bag-in-box has become so associated with cheap wine that new product launches are stymied by association,” Beard noted. “There are opportunities to pursue large format packaging in pouches or bags without the associated stigma.”

Packaging Strategies’ Perspective: The need is acute for research and development work in pouches and bags if they are to further penetrate barrier applications, including the use of retort and aseptic packaged food. There have been inroads recently--witness the single-serve steamed vegetable pouches that can go in the microwave--and consumers seem to be accepting of the new format that allows food to be heated in the pouch.