IDM ¦ Packaging
An efficient use of resources for packaging needs to ensure the protection of the packaged goods (photo: VectorMine/Shutterstock.com)
EU research project BIOnTop
Research and development of more sustainable packaging concepts
Authors: Dr. Corina Reichert, Research Group Leader at the Sustainable Packaging Institute SPI,
Faculty of Life Sciences, Albstadt-Sigmaringen University, reichert@hs-albsig.de;
Prof. Dr. Markus Schmid, Head of the Sustainable Packaging Institute SPI, Faculty of Life Sciences,
Albstadt-Sigmaringen University, schmid@hs-albsig.de
Packaging is primarily intended to protect the packaged
goods in order to save resource-intensive and
sensitive products such as food from loss and to
avoid associated CO2 emissions. A packaging material
must have sufficient mechanical and barrier
properties, depending on the specific sensitivity of the foodstuff,
to meet the requirements during transportation, sale
and use by the consumer. Furthermore, packaging should be
designed in a material-efficient manner and be environmentally
friendly as well as recyclable and degradable, according
to the wishes of the general public. In reality, this wish is
6 · May 2020 ¦ international-dairy.com
usually not yet fulfilled when plastic packaging is concerned.
At present, only a small proportion of 15.6% (Plastikatlas,
2019) of the plastic waste produced in Germany is recycled,
most of it is incinerated or ends up in landfills. Parallel to the
public interest in reducing packaging waste, the European
Commission is pursuing the goal of reducing the use of plastics
and increasing their recyclability in the "European Strategy
for Plastics in Closed Substance Cycle Waste Management".
By 2030, all plastic packaging should be recyclable,
and companies are called upon to set themselves sustainability
targets. Plastic packaging should be reusable or easy to
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