Mondi wins awards for sustainable food packaging

Global packaging and paper manufacturer Mondi has been recognised in this year’s Austrian Green Star Packaging Awards for two recent sustainable packaging innovations.

The first innovation, PerFORMing, is a paper-based packaging that protects cheese slices with a special barrier coating.

One of Austria’s biggest retailers, REWE, worked together with Mondi to launch a more sustainable cheese tray using the technology for its organic brand Ja! Natürlich.

Mondi COO of Functional Paper & Films Marko Schuster said the process combines 80% paper, a renewable and recyclable raw material, with a 20% barrier coating.

“The adoption of this package allowed REWE to reduce the amount of plastic used by 70% and the carbon footprint by two-thirds,” Schuster said.

The second innovation is a fully recyclable thermoforming plastic film for meat.

Image credit: Mondi

Mondi created the packaging for Austrian meat producer Hütthaler. The packaging was designed for recycling while maintaining optimum barrier properties and replacing a previous, less sustainable packaging.

Andreas Koppitz, COO of Mondi’s Consumer Flexibles business, said the new film meets high food standards, preserves shelf life and also helps Hütthaler save on disposal fees due to its recyclability.

“Together with Hütthaler, we developed a mono-material film solution for thermoforming applications that can be fully recycled and still provides a barrier to protect food,” Koppitz said.

The annual Green Star Packaging Awards recognise environmentally friendly packaging and recycling as well as packaging relevant improvements of operational processes in production, logistics and distribution.

All winners of a Green Star Packaging Award may also be nominated for the international WorldStar Packaging Award, which will be presented by the World Packaging Organization (WPO).

Top image credit: Mondi