Alufoil and Resource Efficiency

 

Uniquely light yet strong, foil’s ‘deadfold’ characteristics allows it to wrap products tightly and without any glue or other sealants.

Increases resource efficiency by: Mechanical properties like deadfold-ability allow for continuous preservation during storage & use, minimising the need for sealants. Food waste is prevented through portioning, portability and preserving leftovers.

 

Excellent conductor of heat and is able to withstand extreme temperatures.  Foil is ideal for autoclaving and heat-sealing processes. This protects product quality by minimising sealing times and evening-out the temperature gradient.

Increases resource efficiency by: The excellent thermal conductivity minimises the processing, chilling and re-heating times enabling energy savings. Foil’s thermal stability also facilitates retort-ability increasing energy and resource savings during packaging and filling.

 

Excellent electrical conductivity enables high-precision, contact-free sealing, thus widening the application range for efficient and fast filling technologies.

Increases resource efficiency by: Electrical conductivity facilitates ultrasonic sealing saving materials and energy by minimising the seal area and time.

 

Reflects up to 98% of light and infrared heat.

Increases resource efficiency by: Good heat reflectivity saves energy during the cooling or heating in pack of prepared foods.

 

The unique combination of thermal, electrical and reflectivity allows food to be cooked or re-heated by convection, microwave or fan oven and/or in ‘bain marie’ systems.

Increases resource efficiency by: This flexibility in heating/cooking helps save time and energy during preparation.

 

Acts as an absolute barrier to light, gases and moisture providing almost perfect preservation of aroma and product characteristics and quality. Highly efficient barrier function to weight ratio eg: only 1.5 grams of aluminium per one litre fruit juice carton is sufficient to more than double the ambient shelf-life.

Increase resource efficiency by: Extends the viable life of products for many months – even years – at room temperature. This prevents spoilage and provides energy savings as products can be preserved for long periods without the need for refrigeration.

 

Foil is sterile! It does not harbour or promote bacteria – thanks to high-temperature annealing. This makes it safe for use with foodstuffs and an ideal protection against tampering.

Increases resource efficiency by: Food lasts longer as well as retaining nutritional quality. Less is wasted.

 

Foils excellent ability to combine with other materials (paper and/or plastic) provides flexibility to easily pack the product (food) into appropriate portions.

Increases resource efficiency by: Providing food in appropriate quantities both prevents over preparation/consumption with possible food wastage and extends the shelf-life of the unprepared food by keeping it packaged.

 

Can efficiently be laminated with other materials, thus combining the complementary properties of the flexible packaging substrates for improved overall performance and making thinner laminates possible.

Increases resource efficiency by: Thin laminates, rather than bulky mono material packaging, saves valuable (packing) materials, while less weight of the packed product means a more efficient supply chain during and after use. Space efficiency in storage and display enables further cost savings.

 

The ‘carbon footprint' has become a popular way of comparing the relative environmental impact of goods, services or industrial activities. In practice, simply comparing carbon footprints is rarely fair or scientific. Indeed, as a measure of environmental impact or sustainability, it can be quite misleading. Instead the more complete life Cycle Assessment should be used. This results in a measure of environment impact that is fairer, more comprehensive and more transparent. For more details please click here. 

 

Efficiencies in transport and storage result from both the lightness and/or thinness of the packaging allowing more product to be stored or distributed in the same space.

Increases resource efficiency by: Less weight to transport means a more efficient supply chain – both during use and after use. Space efficiency in storage and display enables further cost savings.

 

Whilst dependent on pack size, typical product to pack ratio’s for rigid packaging range from 3:1 (metal tin) to 5:1 (plastic pot) whilst the equivalent quantity of product in a flexible pack/pouch has a product to pack ratio of 29:1.

Increases resource efficiency by: A high product to pack ratio equates to less packaging being used to pack the same quantity of product. This both saves packaging materials and reduces the need to recycle/recover these materials end of life.

 

Over the last 8 years, the European Foil industry has improved production processes so that the gauge of foil used in packaging and other applications has reduced by 10-20%. Whilst there will be a practical limit to which the foil thickness reduced, the industry is predicting another 10% reduction in the coming 10 year period.

Increases resource efficiency by: Using thinner gauge Alufoil to deliver the same functionality saves both the aluminium and the energy needed to produce it.

 

Over the last 8 years, the European Foil industry has improved production processes so that the energy used to produce the Alufoil has reduced by approximately 10 % over the period 2005-2008. In this period, the industry also reduced the in-house scrap production by 16%. In the coming 10 year period, the industry is predicting another 10% reduction in energy used and a further 10% reduction in scrap.

Increases resource efficiency by: Using less energy represents an energy saving whilst reducing in-house scrap levels saves the energy needed to reprocess this material.

 

Strongly supported by the industry, foil container collection rates have steadily increased throughout Europe with the reported average collection rate of 45% for 2010. An additional, but difficult to quantify, quantity of aluminium (packaging) is also recovered from the waste to energy incineration plant bottom ashes.

Increases resource efficiency by: Increasing collection and recycling rates means that an equivalent quantity of virgin aluminium will not be required by the industry. This represents a significant energy saving as processing recycled aluminium requires 95% less energy than the equivalent virgin quantity.

 

The lead companies in the aluminium industry have embraced “Responsible Sourcing” project and policies for many years and made significant progress towards improving the transparency of their sourcing (and mining) practises. The industry is currently re-looking at the current individual company approach with a view to putting in place a cross industry co-ordinated approach for Responsible Sourcing of Aluminium.

 

Recycling of materials and metals in particular, is as old as man kind and is driven by the inherent value of the material itself. Today recycling is not only value driven, it is also part of a waste prevention strategy to reduce the amount of industrial and household waste created and – where environmentally significant – to replace primary production. For more details please click here.