“As a business we came to the realization early on that unless we were able to look differently at our products and fully incorporate the key principles of sustainability into how and what we produce and supply to our customers, we will run the risk of remaining part of the problem rather than a provider of possible solutions,” says Dieter Kreissel, general manager of Peninsula Packaging in Bellville, Western Cape.
“We went about making some fundamental changes to our business and increased the amount of collaboration between ourselves, our suppliers and most importantly, our customers. We asked the important questions through which we identified the needs and challenges of our customers and identified potential means to go about answering the questions being asked of both us and them by various stakeholders and the community in general.”
PolEMap, a recyclable hybrid-PE packaging format, has proven to have the best CO2 transmission rate of any material available (photos: Peninsula Packaging)
Then, he notes, the journey of discovery began in earnest to ascertain how to transform the company from being just another supplier of traditional bags to a supplier of real value-add sustainable packaging. They realised their product firstly had to be fully recyclable and widely recycled, at an equivalent cost or better than the alternatives and thirdly, if possible, provide enhanced benefits in terms of processing, shelf life, taste, flavour and/or appearance of the product.
“As a business we are in the unique position that we don’t only decorate bought-in substrates of material and that we have our own extrusion capacity that allows us to do all our product development in-house.”
PolEMap gives a distinct advantage regarding shelf life
He continues: “The development of these type of products is not a simple process and we have failed many times along the way, but that has only made us more determined in finding and delivering the ultimate solutions. We have been testing and experimenting on a wide range of plastics and an even wider range of foods from produce, meats, smoked trout and mussels to macadamia nuts, coffee, spices, pastas and everything in between.”
The result of their efforts has culminated in a number of new and patented products launched into the South African and European packaging spaces.
Penflo
A 100% recyclable PE based packaging format which is suitable to replace BOPP / OPP, which although marked as recyclable is difficult to recycle and not widely recycled.
This innovative patented film was first rolled out with Tesco on their apple lines and was an effective defense against expensive imports of MDO film, Dieter says. “We have now expanded the application of Penflo into dry food packaging and we are able to replace PET / PE laminates as well as BOPP laminates in this space. Shelf-life testing has confirmed increased shelf life of no less than 100 days on dried fruits, nuts and other sweets and confectionaries.”
PolEMap
A 100% recyclable hybrid-PE packaging format for replacement of BOPP AF and PE films. PolEMap has proven to have the best CO2 transmission rate of any material available and assists in extending the shelf life of prepared vegetables, salads and fruits by as much as 20 days.
PolEMap bags with modified gas transmission rates, ideally suited to products with continued respiration
PolePouch
A 100% recyclable PE based replacement pouch offering which can be used to replace current multilayer plastic films and pouches. “We are able to add specific additive packs to extend shelf life and modify the performance for a wide range of products. In addition, we have been successful in extending into liquid packaging with spouts including hot fill applications.”
Penbio1
An additive pack incorporated into PolEMap to control botrytis and fungal growth in produce like grapes. "Initial results have proven exceptional performance and improved shelf life and quality of the packaged product after shipping and extensive trials are currently underway with some of the leading distributors," he says.
Grapes after 70 days in Penbio1 versus grapes from the same block shipped in punnets and polycoat paper bags (no SO2 sheets used)
Peninsula Packaging is also the holder of a number of exclusive licenses in the South African market such as Perfotec: Technology which is used in MAP applications on retail ready packs and also their Dynamic Liner System.
The company also offers Keep-It-Fresh ethylene scavengers which are currently deployed into stone fruit and tomatoes and recent tests conducted on papayas at room temperature were successful in extending shelf life of the product to 30 days.
Fox Packaging: Combo mesh bags predominantly used for potatoes, citrus and onions.
"We believe we now contribute significantly to the circular economy"
“In addition to the products we offer,” Dieter adds, “we have also converted our printing processes to digital flexo printing, enabling us to print competitively against all other technologies, this process also reduces carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions in all packaging produced.
“Our business has successfully been transformed into one that provides innovative solutions to a growing customer base and ever-expanding market segments. We believe we now contribute significantly to the circular economy and provide answers and solutions to our customers.”
For more information:
Dieter Kreissel
Peninsula Packaging
Tel: +27 21 948 0717
https://www.masterplasticsgroup.com/