We explore sugarcane and kraft packaging options.
Single use, unsustainable packaging will soon become a thing of the past. Climate change is top of the current global agenda, and businesses around the globe are starting to recognise their corporate social responsibilities. The food service and hospitality industries have a role bigger than many. By 2025, single use plastics will be banned in New Zealand, so it’s imperative businesses start adopting environmentally friendly alternatives now. It will save the business headache down the line, preventing a rushed, unplanned, and therefore costly change over, with the important benefit of reducing your carbon footprint earlier.
Luckily, there is an array of sustainable packaging options available, with eco-friendly solutions being developed at breakneck speed. In this blog post we explore two current accessible options (sugarcane and kraft packaging), and discuss the benefits of each one, to help inspire your business to make the switch to a more sustainable offering, sooner rather than later.
Sugarcane
Sugarcane fibres are ethically sourced from sugarcane stalks during the process of extracting juice from the plant. Traditionally, the stalk part of the plant was discarded during this process. This new use gives the raw material another lease on life. By using a non-edible part of an existing food production practice, this product is considered an extremely renewable resource and an alternative to tree-based paper products. Sugarcane fibres, when blended with water, form a pulp which can then be heated and moulded into a variety of products.
In an ideal world, all products would end up in a composting facility. The reality is that the infrastructure isn’t currently here in New Zealand to achieve that with 12 commercial composting facilities and 3 community facilities that currently accept compostable packaging. Sugarcane, however, if placed in a landfill and under the right conditions (ie enough air, the right temperature etc) will decompose. If the landfilled products do not convert into compost they simply decompose into organic matter that will not harm our ecosystem (unlike fossil-fuel based products).
When it comes to product performance, Green Choice sugarcane product benefits include:
- Durable
- Microwave and freezer safe
- Food grade chemical added to increase oil and water resistance (No PLA liner)
- Microwave safe
- 100% commercially compostable
You won’t be compromising on product functionality by making this sustainable switch.
Kraft
Kraft packaging boxes have increased in popularity in recent years. Kraft, or kraft paper, is a thick brown paper made from wood, a renewable energy source. Traditionally crafting and school art projects is where you’d find the highest use of kraft. In more recent years, kraft has become increasingly popular as an eco-friendly solution to harmful plastics and papers. Benefits of using kraft as a packaging solution (alongside its green credentials) is that it’s very sturdy, the word ‘kraft’ translates in German for ‘strength’.
Kraft’s sturdy capabilities mean it is a perfect sustainable solution to supermarket bags and takeaway food packaging containers. Kraft bags are far less likely to rip under the weight of heavy foods, making them a popular and reliable alternative to plastic shopping bags.
Additionally, in product packaging — it might be sturdy, but it is lightweight. As kraft paper is paper, it can also be recycled by customers at home (as long as the product is not contaminated with food). Because Kraft is such a sturdy paper it can also be continuously reused.
When it comes to product performance, Kraft takeaway container products offer the following benefits:
- Kraft packaging containers are lined with PLA – meaning they are oil and water resistant
- PLA windows allow for viewing of food
- Easy to close and seal
- Stackable, saving space
- Naturally biodegradable product
- 100% Compostable in a commercial composting facility
In this blog post we’ve wrapped up two sturdy, reliable and accessible packaging alternatives to environmentally damaging packaging products. There’s no reason why these products can’t easily be implemented within your business, if they haven’t already. If you’re looking for a reliable supply of sustainable, eco-friendly packaging options, be sure to check out GreenChoice.
We stock sustainable packaging solutions in sugarcane and kraft, and can help guide you through the products that will be the most beneficial to you and your business. You can contact our team here give us a call on 0800 864 725, or reach out via the live chat on our website.
