Up-to-date topic – recycling, sustainable development
A black horse on the track of the carbon footprint
page 8
The problem of constantly sustainable development is currently being tackled even in the packaging industry. The championship that has started in this field is world-wide. The chief discipline is a long-distance run on the track called the carbon footprint. The proportion of recycled materials plays an exceptional role here. The question of recycling is a quite fundamental matter, especially for aluminium. As a packaging material, it has undergone a difficult period, but its potential is still under-estimated.
page 12
The recycling of glass is not a great challenge technically. It depends, however, on the quality of the glass collected: as soon as metal, ceramic, stoneware or porcelain elements get into the container it must be carefully sorted out, because this would damage the quality of the newly produced glass. Labels on bottles or food jars do not matter as they burn up without residue at a temperature of over 1500 degrees. Vetropack Moravia Glass, the leading Czech manufacturer of packaging glass, processes more than 80,000 tons of waste glass a year.
The Netherlands – introducing a packaging tax
page 13
In the Netherlands a penalty has come into force for the use of packaging materials burdening the atmosphere with carbon dioxide. The charge for released CO2 emissions is intended to motivate the use of a more ecological packaging. Critics doubt the efficacy of this measure and suspect that behind it the matter is fiscal rather than ecological.
From May 1 this tax must be paid by both manufacturers and importers of packaging. The level depends on the one hand on the weight of the packaging put into circulation and on the other hand on the carbon footprint of the packaging materials used. The material with the highest tax is aluminium.
Main theme: Packaging of beverages and liquids
Is a can also better for the Czech market?
page 14
For the Czech consumer beer in cans is increasingly acceptable. This is one of the conclusions of two promotion campaigns realised in the period from May to September in 18 locations in the Czech Republic with the slogan Cans are Better. The campaigns were organised by Beverage Can Makers Europe (BCME).
“Seasonality is not seriously reflected in can manufacture”
page 16
says the director of the Rexam Beverage Can Czech Republic.
Rexam is one of the five largest world manufacturers of glass, metal and plastic consumer packaging. It covers not only the area of the beverage industry, but also food, cosmetics and health care. In the Czech Republic the company has, apart from the plastic bottle plant in Aš, also a production plant in Dýšina near Ejpovice where beverage cans are made. We talked to manager Radomil Mádr about its production and position on the European market.
page 18
More than 230 billion beverage cans are produced annually all over the world. More than 50 billion of these two-part cans (body and lid) are produced in Europe either from steel or aluminium. They are supplied in various sizes according to the content and type of use. Apart from the fact that they protect the contents and are light, easy to transport and recyclable, their surface also serves as an advertising medium for the manufacturer of the contents. At the beginning, however, there is only a roll of metal sheet from which the can is shaped in the same way in the Rexam Beverage Can Czech Republic as anywhere else abroad.
page 20
Apart from the diehard fans of a particular brand of beer there are countless consumers who are not so strictly limited. And it is for them (but not them alone) that selection and purchase decision is often made first and foremost according to the type of primary packaging of the drink. The primary packaging into which beer is poured directly includes bottles, cans and barrels. The attractiveness of beer packaging is also enhanced by auxiliary packaging elements, especially labels or even the types of closures. In the last few years the packaging of beer has undergone relatively rapid development, which has resulted not just in the raising of the utility properties of the packaging, but mainly in its increased attractiveness.
page 22
Secondary packaging is usually intended for the packaging of several units of the product in primary packaging. In the case of beer this mainly concerns crates (most usually plastic), carton packaging (multipacks) or various other types of transport boxes. With regard to the relatively high consumption of beer in this country, beer is usually bought in the shop in larger quantities. The secondary packaging therefore fulfils not only the secondary protective function, but also the handling function.
“Logos impressed into the glass are the trend,”
page 24
says the manageress for food packaging in Europe of the Ownes-Illinois.
The pressure to reduce not only the logistics costs is leading an increasing number of food firms to seek ways to reduce the weight and the volume of transport packaging. It would appear that this situation favours more the lighter materials such as plastic. We asked Viiviky Remmel, marketing manager of the O-I, responsible for the segment of food packaging in Europe, about the real chances of present-day glass packaging.
An un-traditional liqueur bottle
page 26
The family liqueur manufacturer Milan Metelka has put a new series of liqueurs on the market with the name of SHAKER. This is a brand-new acquisition to their portfolio. The originality of this series of drinks lies not only in
the content, but also in the unusual shape of the bottle, which was designed by Jan Herynek and is manufactured by Vetropack Moravia Glass.
An important feature of the bottle is not only its unusual shape, but also the graphic design of the labels, which were also designed by the Herynek studio. They are made of clear material and thus always show off the colour of the drink concerned. They are made from foil with the trade name PP Ultra Clear. The printing techniques used are screen-printing (white colour) and rotary UV offset (other colours). The method of hot metal-embossing is also used here in the fruit motif. The labels are made by the Label Design company.
Manufacturers
New investment on the Czech packaging market
page 41
Alcan Packaging, part of Rio Tinto Alcan, announced investment to the extent of 17 million € in the construction of a new plant situated in the Czech Republic in Nový Bydžov on 2 July 2008. It will focus chiefly on the production and printing of high-quality flexible packaging. The envisaged start of production is planned for the fourth quarter of 2009.
The start of the construction of the new plant began on 1 October with the ceremony for the laying of the foundation stone, attended by the employees and management of the Alcan Packaging together with the representatives of the Hradec Králové region and of the town of Nový Bydžov. Our editorial board was present.
Logistics
The cycle of beer bottles and barrels
page 34
What is the path followed by returnable beer bottles? After drinking the beer the customer usually returns the bottle to the shop. The returnable bottles are then placed in the crates belonging to the appropriate brewery. In the breweries they are then cleaned and strictly checked. The process is similar (leaving out the shop) in the case of barrels. This article describes the distribution routes of the products of the Staropramen and the Plzeň Prazdroj breweries.
The transport and “storage“ of fresh fish
page 37
In the Makro Cash & Carry ČR, s. r. o., the Czech Republic, in the last two years there has been increased support for the sale of fresh chilled fish together with the strengthening of purchasing channels abroad. In this connection a storehouse for these fish has been established as close as possible to the place of consumption, i.e. in the Czech Republic. Fresh fish are traditionally supplied from abroad stored on a layer of ice in polystyrene lidded crates, which ensures the required temperature of around zero degrees Celsius throughout the transport period. At the newly established fish platform, during the quality check, there takes places also a check on the integrity of these crates and eventual addition of ice.
Milk not only in stainless steel containers
page 39
A large proportion of dairy enterprises offer their products not only to the consumer market, but also to other manufacturers who use them for their own further production. Whether this concerns milk, cream, yoghurt or condensed milk, supplies to these processors are usually realised, according to the possibilities of the dairy, in tankers or stainless steel tanks. A problem occurs when the customer (for instance a smaller bakery or confectioner) does not have his own stationary tank, which can be filled from the tanker, or does not have a nitrogen system to ensure pressure when emptying a stainless steel tank. One solution may be the new type of plastic packaging with a volume of 250 or 1000 litres – the Combo container.
Packaging in trade
After 201 years a new Becherovka
page 28
A younger sister of the traditional Karlovy Vary liqueur, Becherovka Lemond, is to appear on the market. It is aimed first and foremost at the younger generation of consumers. The design of the bottle comes from the workshop of the Englishman Martin Blunt, today almost the court designer of the Karlovy Vary Becherovka. Aware of the historical heritage of Becherovka, he has created from the characteristic oval bottle the modern, attractive and timeless packaging of the new product. This bottle is the result of two special modern techniques – coating, which is a special surface finish for the whole bottle giving it a frosted look, and labels sprayed directly onto the bottle.
A beer crate with a design picture
page 29
Stella Artois, number one in the segment of super-premium beers, has launched a new and original crate. Consumers will find it on the Czech market from November. The design for the Staropramen Brewery is the work of the acclaimed young designer Maxim Velčovský in cooperation with the Unity studio. The designer was inspired by the appearance of a historical painting and has thus shown that he is capable for transferring shape and form into a new context.
Packaging as part of the product
page 30
The packaging of butcher’s products is one kind of food packaging that fulfils not only the function of classical packaging material, but it is at the same time a technological part of the product concerned, because technological processing of the product takes place in it. The butcher’s packaging can be divided up into several groups according to category. The further text is based by the author on the principal division into natural and artificial skins.