Food Packaging Goes Green: Say No to Single-use Plastic and yes to Sugarcane Bagasse Food Packaging solutions

July 3, International Plastic Bag Free Day, is a good time to promote alternative, ecologically sensitive packaging solutions.

What do materials like bagasse (sugarcane residue), bamboo, and seaweed have in common? If the question foxed you, well, these are some of the various materials used in sustainable packaging.

One of the significant concerns regarding plastic packaging is its non-biodegradable nature, which poses many harmful effects on the environment. Therefore, alternative packaging solutions that are more environmentally friendly and designed to preserve the quality and freshness of products over an extended period are taking centre stage. Vandana Tandan, head of markets in India and Bangladesh, SIG Combibloc India Pvt. Ltd says, “The key element offered by our packaging solutions is renewable paperboard, sourced from responsibly managed forests.

We are also working towards increasing the share of renewable materials in our carton packs. This will help to reduce our reliance on fossil-based resources and support the transition to a more sustainable packaging solution. The straws and caps on our packs are completely recyclable. Furthermore, our lightweight carton packs are designed to minimise material usage, reduce wastage, and lower transportation emissions.”

Varun Singh Bothiyal, senior director of Moglix, adds, “Our packaging solutions not only focus on plastic alternative products but also on the appropriate utilization of recycled materials to reduce overall carbon footprints, fully complying with the latest government regulations. We also prioritize sustainably sourced materials, such as FSC-certified paper, compostable made from agro-based materials, and bamboo and jute-based products, offering safe and sustainable alternatives to plastic packaging. We ensure the optimum selection of materials and processes to design solutions that support a circular economy and promote recyclability.” Bambrew manufactures and supplies packaging solutions made from recycled paper, bamboo paper, and other compostable and biodegradable materials.

Bioplastic battle

Seaweed-based coatings are a viable alternative to existing ones and are exceptionally high-performing and cost-effective. Zerocircle creates all its products from seaweed and is making a case for using naturally occurring polymers from seaweed instead of bioplastics. “Bioplastics could be plant-based, but many are still made from petroleum-based resources, and the final product might still have synthetic components, making them difficult to recycle and compost. Regarding the sustainability and environmental impact of the final product, ‘bioplastics’ remains a grey area.

On the other hand, naturally occurring polymers are not only made from renewable sources like seaweed. Still, they are designed to degrade and break down naturally without releasing microplastics, toxic emissions and synthetic chemicals into the environment. These polymers are produced by living organisms through biological processes. They have various applications in various industries due to their unique biodegradability properties,” says Neha Jain, Founder and CEO of Zero Circle.

Product as a service

Understanding the packaging needs and associated pain points of various institutions, InfinityBox has a model where they supply reusable containers as a service. This service offers sustainable packaging options to clients like corporations, hospitals, universities, co-living spaces, co-working spaces, and food delivery platforms like Zomato and Swiggy. For example, disposable plastic containers Zomato and Swiggy use are replaced by reusable options like Tupperware boxes. “The idea is to reuse this box so that we can reduce their carbon footprint. With corporations, we find out their exact requirements and supply them with the entire need for the day with reusable plates that are collected after use, washed, and reused.

This reduces consumables, electricity, and water; we clean them in two hours and send them back the next day. Zomato and Swiggy had a specific issue to reduce their single-use plastics, so we replaced it with reusable containers that we collect, wash and reuse. With Swiggy and Zomato, we have supplied over 1.5 lakh boxes that can be reused. The packaging is available in specific areas in Bengaluru and Mumbai and is planning to start in Delhi and Hyderabad,” says Shashwat Gangwal, Founder & CEO of InfinityBox. The impact of their work is tremendous as they have reduced 200,000 kg of disposable waste and, with a new client, are reducing 1 billion litres of fresh water through their solution.

Cost factor

As the ecosystem progresses towards greener solutions, an ongoing challenge remains: the lack of infrastructure and available raw materials in the market. While the cost of plastic packaging alternatives initially surpasses that of traditional options, strategic investments are being made, leading to positive strides in cost reduction. Costs of aseptic cartons are comparable to PET packaging, but having said that, cost also depends on volume sizes and closures, which add a significant part to the overall cost of the packaging. CHUK has key partnerships with brands like Amazon, PVR, INOX, KFC, Cafe Coffee Day, and Google, and this association has led them to produce about 11,500 tonnes of bagasse packaging, which effectively means this amount of plastic packaging was not used by these brands.

“Our carbon footprint is extremely low at 0.001 kg CO2e per piece. This is 1310% less than plastic, 8733% less than plastic-lined paper-based packaging and 5406% less than Styrofoam packaging,” says Chamyvelumani. Vaibhav Anant, Founder and CEO, Bambrew adds, “In the last financial year, which ended on 31st March 2023, Bambrew manufactured and supplied packaging solutions utilising approximately 6000 tons of recycled paper and bamboo paper, which means it provided an alternative to 6000 tons of plastic packaging material.”

Tech Edge

Technology is also essential in packaging, both products and solutions. At InfinityBox, a robust internal technology team ensures that the company’s premise to reuse the same container at least 200 times is tracked thoroughly. They use Quick Response (QR) Codes, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and their inventory management systems to ensure they know how many cycles each product has gone through and where it is present at a particular point in time. They also use routing algorithms to batch multiple orders together and collect these boxes as best as possible. “We use processes like blow moulding, injection moulding, and extrusion that involve heating and shaping the material into the desired form.

We also leverage green nanotechnology to develop more sustainable and biodegradable alternatives to plastic packaging,” says Bothiyal. As plastic pollution continues to make inroads into landfills and water sources, it is the right time to switch to biodegradable and sustainable packaging. While these are small steps, the real impact will come only when there is a more mass acceptance of these packaging.