Amec and Bonmacor Group Sustainability Conference

February 3th 2020

amec and Bonmacor Group they organized a Sustainability Conference in the Old Factory Damm de Barcelona on January 21, in which corporate strategies and solutions were unveiled in the food packaging.
The Conference included the presentations of: Jorge Serrano, manager of companies of Ecoembes; Marta Puyuelo, director of institutional relations and communication for Southern Europe and France of Pepsico; Juan Antonio López, director of energy and environment optimization at Dam; Pere Coll, director of R&D engineering of Plater; and David Celigueta, sales manager of Ulma Packaging.
Jorge serrano He spoke about the implications of the new regulatory context in packaging and began by commenting on some recycling data. If we look at the evolution of the citizen contribution, a total of 15,7 kg per citizen is collected in the yellow container, which represents an increase of + 12,3%, while in the blue container it is a total of 18,1 , 12,4 kg per citizen, which is an increase of + XNUMX%.
The Ecoembes business manager summarized the implications of the circular economy package in eight points: increase in recycling targets; selective collection of plastic beverage bottles; changes in the point of measurement of the recycling rate; expansion of producer responsibility; ecomodulation of green point rates; marketing restrictions based on recyclability; obligation to include recycled material in new packaging and proliferation of regional regulations and lack of harmonization.
Jorge Serrano also spoke of the Pack CD, "an engineering tool that is launched in February and seeks to help in the design phase, not in the communication phase."
For its part, Martha Puyuelo He explained how to contribute to a more sustainable food system: "We must integrate sustainability into our business." Pepsico is working on six priorities: next generation agriculture, positive impact of water, packaging for a circular economy, improving its product range, mitigating climate change and people and diversity, supporting people and communities.
"We have to do everything possible so that plastic does not become waste", he declared, adding that his 3 Rs are "reduce (by lightening packaging), recycle (incorporating recycled plastic in our bottles) and reinvent"; thus in Paris, they are piloting a system of leaving the empty Tropicana container and reusing it; They are also working with snack bags to find solutions for the biodegradation of packaging.
In beverages, Damm is the second company in Iberia by volume, with more than 15,5 MHIS sold; 65% corresponds to beer, while 35% are soft drinks, mineral water and other beverages. For Damm, the main objectives are: to implement energy improvements within the Group's manufacturing process and to promote cost reduction projects through the reduction of waste and the recovery of waste.
«In the period 2008 - 2017, we have reduced water consumption by 37%, he stated Juan Antonio López. Among other measures, he highlighted that all the electricity they use is of renewable origin, that they have reduced their carbon footprint and have more than 13,000 m2 of photovoltaic panels, with a total power of 1.7 Mw, saving 2.160 tons of CO2. They also work on waste 0 "and we are looking for km0 in terms of producers of raw materials." 99% of brewery by-products are valued as profitable products: bagasse and yeast are used as animal feed, beer is recovered from yeast, 100% of CO2 emissions from fermenters are captured and reused in the process of beer and biogas from sewage treatment plants is used as fuel.
In innovation, the strategic lines are: to continue acting in the direction of reducing the consumption of natural resources, reducing wastage, creating opportunities for improvement in the beer-making process, betting on innovation aimed at promoting energy savings , eco-efficiency and sustainability, develop models for the valorization of agri-food by-products, turning them into co-products and the generation of renewable energy to reduce the use of energy from fossil fuels. For this, Damm carries out numerous projects and other initiatives such as the recycling of bottles, "we reuse each bottle about 30 times"; the recycling of cans, "with 350 compacting machines scattered around the beaches", the 100% biodegradable or reusable cups for concerts and events; the replacement of the plastic rings by Latcub, made of cardboard.
Finally, Juan Antonio López spoke about the water footprint: "6700 liters / day is the average water footprint of a Spanish consumer"; the water footprint to make 1 L of beer is 300 L and "we have moved to a water footprint of 180-190 per L".

Sustainable packaging
Peter Coll, from Enplater, spoke about flexible packaging and the circular economy. Between 5 and 13 million tonnes of plastic end up in the oceans each year; Asia is the continent that throws the most plastic into the sea and, if the origin of the microplastics found in the oceans is analyzed, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the highest percentage, 35%, comes from synthetic textiles and However, the general belief is that it comes from packaging waste. "We have to work on reducing the weights and recycling," said Pere Coll.
"The golden triangle of packaging has three corners, image, functionality and protection, with sustainability at the center," he added, then listing the advantages of flexible packaging: it is more efficient in the use of resources, weighs less, preserves food , has a high product-packaging ratio (high product-to-package ratio), has transportation benefits (a reel fits many bottles), reduces materials for landfill and has advantages in the life cycle (reduction of the impact of carbon, water, the use of fossil fuels ...).
Pere Coll also stated that "we have to change from a linear to a circular economy", for which he listed five steps: selective collection of all flexible packaging for recycling; sorting the suitable mono-material fractions so that they are available for recycling; redesign multi-material from flexible to mono-material packaging with existing recycling fractions; identify solutions and develop capacities to sort and recycle the remaining fractions; and create end markets for all recycled flexible packaging materials.
Finally, David celigueta, from Ulma Packaging, which is dedicated to the design and manufacture of high-tech packaging equipment and systems, spoke about sustainable packaging. ULMAweCare is Ulma Packaging's answer to the challenges of the industry, an ambitious and transversal sustainability plan that seeks to achieve a circular economy of plastics. "We can replace the unnecessary protection part of the plastic and keep the barrier protection part," said David Celigueta. To reduce the packaging material, the measures are: reduce plastic, thinner films, avoid oversized packaging, reduce film scrap, pack without a tray, use trays of less thickness and alternative recyclable materials: cardboard, wood ...
In order to promote recycling, the idea is to use paper fiber films, recycled mono-material films (PET, PP, PE ...), films and trays made of recycled material, trays based on cellulose and fiber for non-barrier applications. , as well as cellulose fiber trays and cardboard sheets with plastic liner that facilitate separation. To promote renewal, use bio materials made from renewable resources: BioPE, BioPE, BioPET; paper fiber, cellulose; biodegradable and compostable plastics such as PLA, PHA; Biodegradable and compostable paper, cellulose, cellophane.
To conclude, David Celigueta showed the different sustainable packaging solutions proposed by Ulma Packaging.

You may be interested in continuing reading ...

Translate »