Birds Eye reduces packaging weight following wrap project
15/09/2009
M-real Corporation Press release 15 September 2009 at 14:30
M-real Consumer Packaging has helped Birds Eye achieve significant savings in packaging weight for its frozen food product range, following completion of a project initiated in partnership with WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme). An important criterion of the project was that weight reduction should be achieved without loss of stiffness and strength, vital for maintaining efficiency on the packing line and to avoid carton collapse in transit and distribution.
Birds Eye’s total board usage of 3,500 tonnes per annum in the UK decreased by 54 tonnes (1.5%) as a result of the trial, equivalent to CO2 savings of 135-210 tonnes. M-real enabled this reduction following a rebuild at its Simpele Mill in Finland, allowing it to achieve extremely high bulk and stiffness in its upgraded Simcote board, and for its customers to realise improved yield over alternative packaging grades.
The WRAP report concludes: ”The work shows selection of the board grade and weight is a balance between:
- Operational efficiency of the actual packaging line. This is particularly relevant when considering weight selection and hence board stiffness.
- Compression strength of the carton which must be sufficient to prevent any carton collapse in transit and distribution; again the board weight and stiffness have a direct effect on the compression strength.”
Matthew Terry, Technical Service Manager M-real UK, says: “Birds Eye has already optimised its raw materials prior to the trial and therefore dramatic savings in tonnage were not expected. But it did recognise the need to specify board by stiffness as a key indicator of a board’s runnability down the packing line and through the rest of the supply chain. Given that Birds Eye were previously using one of the stiffest boards on the market – our old Simcote grade – savings of 1.5% are an excellent achievement.”
M-real invested 70 million euros in the rebuild at its Simpele Mill, including the installation of two unique pieces of technology: a ValZone metal belt calender and a Power Dry Plus air dryer. New reeling and winding machinery was introduced, helping to preserve the coated board’s surface properties and bulk. The rebuild also simplified the whole boardmaking process, increasing production capacity.
At the same time, surface properties of the board were enhanced, leading to improved printability, and increased control over the manufacturing process resulted in greater consistency, further tightening M-real’s industry-leading tolerances.
“Other projects, outside of the WRAP forum, have also confirmed our new Simcote grade can achieve greater savings compared to other FBBs, and even more when substituted for a SBB or WLC,” adds Matthew Terry. “As well as helping our customers realise potential cost savings, there are environmental benefits at all stages of the value chain and in a reduced amount of packaging to be disposed of at the end of its life.”
A full copy of the WRAP report is available on
http://www.wrap.org.uk/retail/case_studies_research/birds_eye.html
Link to photo:
http://databank.metsaliitto.com/metsaliitto/mreal.jsp?x=6061299&i=158145254211249931271711124710020419147131218
For further information please contact M-real Consumer Packaging:
Ritva Mönkäre, Marketing Manager
Mobile +358 (0)50 598 7012
E-mail: ritva.monkare(at)m-real.com
M-real in brief:
M-real is Europe’s leading primary fibre paperboard producer and a major paper supplier. The company’s customers include brand owners, carton printers, converters, publishers, printing houses, merchants and office suppliers.
M-real supports its customers’ businesses by providing high-performance paperboards and quality papers for consumer packaging, communications and advertising end-uses. Together with its customers and partners, M-real develops products and services for demanding end uses. The company’s paperboard is mainly used for the packaging of beautycare and healthcare products, foods, cigarettes, and consumer durables as well as graphics. Paper is mainly used for office papers as well as wallcoverings and other speciality end uses.
M-real’s business areas are Consumer Packaging, Office Papers and Speciality Papers and the reporting structure includes also Market Pulp and Energy segment.
M-real is headquartered in Finland. In 2008, the company’s sales totalled EUR 3.2 billion, and it has approximately 6,100 employees. M-real, part of Metsäliitto Group, is listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd.