Sustainability is becoming increasingly important to consumers who expect the products they buy to be produced and packaged in an environmentally responsible way. Dairy processors look to light-weighting and recyclable materials for packaging milk, yogurt, ice cream and cheese.

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Processors look for sustainable packages for dairy foods, beverages | 2014-02-17 | Dairy Foods
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Processors look for sustainable packages for
dairy foods, beverages
By Gail Barnes
February 17, 2014
Sustainability is becoming increasingly important to consumers who expect the products they buy to be produced
and packaged in an environmentally responsible way.
Speaking at the 2013 International Dairy Show in Chicago in November, EcoFocus Worldwide CEO Linda
Gilbert said “We know that dairy shoppers are rethinking their shopping decisions and making changes and
choices that reflect a lifestyle commitment to being environmentally friendly.”
Cary Frye, vice president of regulatory and scientific affairs for the International Dairy Foods Association, said
that sustainability is playing a big role in the evolution of the dairy sector. “We’re seeing that in packaging, with
lighter packaging and more efficient packaging.”
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Processors look for sustainable packages for dairy foods, beverages | 2014-02-17 | Dairy Foods
Packaging for dairy foods
The Infini bottle from the UK’s Nampak Plastics exemplifies the kind of lighter and more efficient packaging to
which Frye was referring. The company was awarded the Waste Minimization Award in 2013 and received the
accolade of “Green Product of the Year” at last year’s British Engineering Excellence Awards. In making this
award, the judges stated, “The reduction in material used in the Infini bottle is very impressive and will have a
significant environmental impact.”
When it comes to making a slimmer milk package, there are generally three ways that this can be done:
1. Light-weighting through container design. A 12% weight savings through optimized design alone could be
possible, with a reduction from 63.6 grams to 56 grams total weight (2.24 ounces to 1.97 ounces), according to
Uniloy Milacron.
2. Adding calcium carbonate as a filler to replace virgin HDPE. An addition of up to 8% calcium carbonate
could be possible without affecting the recycling recovery rate. The calcium carbonate would be compounded in
a master batch, and thus would not require changes to equipment, except for the addition of a material blender.
At these levels, an energy reduction of 10.6% could also be possible, Uniloy finds.
3. Light-weighting plus optimizing for calcium carbonate filler. Uniloy says this would require optimizing design to
regain top load (for example, a tucked-in handle and ribs on the bottom and on the shoulder). If this was done, a
54-gram (1.9 ounce) bottle could be possible.
Since 85% of fluid milk in the United States is packaged in monolayer HDPE packaging, any reduction in the
amount of plastic used can have a major impact on reducing the carbon footprint.
A comprehensive life cycle analysis study on processing and packaging systems by the Innovation Center for
U.S. Dairy found that differences between the chilled and ambient systems that were studied were relatively
small; one could not say one system was better than another. Since the small differences between systems were
mainly the result of what and how much material was used to make the packages, the study recommended lightweighting as a key focus area for improvement in the supply chain impact of fluid milk.
Packaging for yogurt, ice cream
When it comes to yogurt and ice cream, “the two best strategies for reducing packaging waste are to pack more
in less, and to move to easily recyclable packaging,” said Robert Lilienfeld, editor of The ULS Report. “Many of
the artisanal yogurt producers, such as Noosa here in Colorado, are using larger size tubs which deliver multiple
servings and therefore more product per pound of package. On the ice cream size, I like the fact that Talenti is
using PET containers, as they are easy for the typical consumer to recycle.”
In 2010 Stonyfield Farm pioneered the move from petroleum-based plastics to plant-based material to form its
multipack yogurt cups. Yet when it came to the choice of material for its Greek cups, the company chose
polypropylene, even though it isn’t a plastic that is commonly recycled at curbside.
Wood Turner, Stonyfield Farms vice president of sustainability innovation, states on the company website that
“we did a comprehensive LCA of every kind of packaging available to see which would be the best for us to
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Processors look for sustainable packages for dairy foods, beverages | 2014-02-17 | Dairy Foods
use. Polypropylene was the best. It allows us to use lighter packaging, still holds our yogurt and can still be
reused when it’s done.”
As for cheese packaging, thermoformable cellulose packaging holds promise because of its lightness, use of
renewable fibers and optimized manufacturing processes which are said to offer a reduction in the cradle-to-gate
carbon footprint of about 60%.
When it comes to future innovation, an integrated design approach seems to be the next frontier for dairy
packaging, where the minimum input is used to get the maximum use of materials. In this, collaboration will be the
key, and less will continue to be more.
Dr. Gail Barnes is a technical expert on sustainability, processing & packaging technologies, product innovation
& social media. www.drgailbarnes.com
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