SABIC, Lamb Weston Partner on Sustainable Packaging

SABIC is a global chemical manufacturing company based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The company now has formed an alliance with Lamb Weston, the US-based leading producer of frozen potato products, to develop a solution for sustainable packaging toward reducing the impact of food packaging on the environment. This arose from continually increasing pressure from consumers and regulatory authorities for eco-friendly packaging. The new packaging is a bio-based plastic film, low carbon emissions that do not compromise safety while in line with food packaging regulations of both the US and Europe. Increasing demand for sustainable packaging As consumer awareness related to environmental issues becomes more pronounced, the pressure to business processes to become more sustainable is being considerably enhanced. The food industry has mainly been occupied with finding alternatives for plastic packaging that minimize fossil fuel-based plastics, consequently reducing carbon footprints as a whole. Sensing this need, SABIC and Lamb Weston collaborated to offer an innovative solution that minimizes packaging materials by weight but still utilizes bio-renewable content derived from waste products. Both firms are contributing their fair share to the industry at large by taking aggressive steps towards sustainability in food production. Bio-Based Packaging Solution This new light packaging by SABIC and Lamb Weston is produced from a specific type of plastic film that contains at least 60% bio-based content. The content is obtained from used cooking oil (UCO), which Lamb Weston collects from its processes. Two types of sustainable plastics, SABIC(r) HDPE and SUPEER(tm) mLLDPE, which are used as the flexible film in the packaging are formed because of the use of UCO as bio-feedstock. The packaging materials under the TRUCIRCLE program at SABIC are sustainable and focus on making more plastic circular. It is based on principles developed for the production of plastic in a circular economy, giving focus to renewable and recycled material usage in the products, thus ensuring that the products that are made are fully recyclable and reducing waste to the environment. The Circular Production Process This closed-loop approach to production recycles waste as valuable resources; in this case, SABIC would collect the UCO from Lamb Weston's production and transform it into bio-feedstock for the production of sustainable plastics, which forms the core content of the packaging material. The second step is Oerlemans Plastics, which is in the OPACKGROUP. They, also change these plastics into flexible film. This flexible film is a product of OPACKGROUP. Lamb Weston uses them to pack their frozen potato products. Applying circular production will definitely save wastes but will also encourage renewable material in food packaging. Compliance with safety and environmental requirements Sustainability in packaging for foodstuff presents a challenge because the involved materials need to be very safe for use and cause no harm to the environment. The packaging developed by SABIC in partnership with Lamb Weston is the result of compliance with all regulations from European Food Safety Authority and U.S. Food and Drug Administration for food contact materials. This ensures that the packaging is safe for use in the food industry and that the quality and safety of the product are not compromised. The packaging, despite the safety measures, is strictly according to environmental standards. The newly designed bags are 20% thinner, which means that the whole bag weighs less, thus reducing the use of plastic. The average weight for one bag is only 10 grams, compared to the big traditional packaging weights. Environmental Benefits New packaging solution got numerous environmental benefits when it comes to minimizing the carbon footprint of Lamb Weston's products. The reason for this is that the use of bio-renewable content from UCO led the way to reduce virgin plastic usage thus saving non-renewable resources. The material savings also make the packaging light in weight; thereby, reducing its own impact on the environment. The companies claim that this new packaging solution reduces carbon emissions by 30% compared to the other previous packaging solutions. This means the reduction of emission is high, especially for industries in the food sector requiring huge volumes of plastic packaging in various countries. By accepting this sustainable packaging, Lamb Weston is getting ahead of the game toward an ecofriendly objective and responding to the needs of the growing environmentally conscious consumer. The SABIC collaboration also fits well with the overall quest of the industry to the transition of more sustainable packaging. The company continues making little steps towards a circular economy in the food supply chain worldwide. A Look into Technological Innovation in Packaging Technology SABIC and Lamb Weston are a good example of circular economy that changes the industries to reduce waste. Companies close loops in production by using waste products, such as UCO, to create new packaging materials. What is great about this project, according to Khaled Al-Jalawi, global director of Circular Economy business at SABIC, "is that it is quite a pioneering example of an upstream closed-loop approach. It is a very strong showcase of the circularity concept in real practice." According to Sebastiaan Besems, VP Commercial EMEA at Lamb Weston, "this program is a part of our continuous efforts to reduce environmental footprints. The growing demand for sustainable packaging solutions gives us the perfect opportunity to take things to the next level, while remaining committed to serving our customers in the best possible way.". While it may take some time, with more food and other industry companies adopting the principles of a circular economy, partnerships like that between SABIC and Lamb Weston will play a critical role in driving innovation while pushing for sustainability along the entire supply chain. Future Prospects It's a fundamental breakthrough in developing sustainable packaging and marking out the future of a more sustainable food industry. With consumer pressure set to keep growing for environmentally friendly products, more companies will be inclined to follow the same approach in reducing reliance on traditional plastic packaging. Together, SABIC and Lamb Weston will continue to explore new avenues for improvement toward sustainability in its products and processes. It's about going further on the overall environmental footprint in packaging materials and using more bio-renewable content in other areas of manufacturing. The future of food and its future production will have to be more sustainable; this collaboration between SABIC and Lamb Weston is something a company would follow in terms of how they can collaborate to produce an innovative solution that would facilitate mutual benefits for both parties with the planet. Source: Lamb Weston