Envases wins at Fair-Inno-Pack 2023 with label-free yogurt drink bottle
In the Fair-Inno-Pack 2023 competition for innovative and sustainable packaging concepts held by Swiss dairy products manufacturer Emmi, the packaging manufacturer Envases was one of the finalists with its idea for a label-free yogurt drink bottle. By avoiding the usual plastic sleeve and instead imprinting the brand name directly into the bottle, which is made of recycled PET, this packaging is claimed to save 42 per cent CO2 and 70 per cent fossil raw materials. Further product information can be found on the screw cap: the cap colour indicates the type of beverage, and other information can be accessed via a printed QR code.
In order to both promote and drive innovative ideas for sustainable packaging, Emmi, one of the leading manufacturers of high-quality dairy products in Switzerland, organized the Fair Inno Pack competition together with 38 selected suppliers. The label-free yogurt drink bottle concept presented there came from Envases Aesch AG in Switzerland, a sister company of Envases Öhringen that also emerged from the Huber Packaging Group and is part of the Envases Europe corporate group. As one of about 80 entries submitted, it was evaluated by a jury consisting of marketing, purchasing and research&development. With the Labelfree bottle, Envases is one of the seven manufacturers whose concepts made it through to the finals.
The 150 ml bottle for yogurt drinks is not only made from 100 per cent recycled PET, but also impressed the jury with its reduced use of materials: 1.9 g of plastic is saved in the bottle body, 0.8 g by not using a plastic label, and 1.2 g thanks to the ultra-light cap. The weight per bottle is thus reduced by 20 per cent and CO2 emissions by 16 g. With one million bottles produced, a whole 4 t of plastic and 16 t of CO2 can thus be saved.
Envases also provided a solution for the secondary packaging: In order to make it as attractive and resource-saving as possible, an outer packaging cardboard box is not needed. Instead, the bottles are packed in a 6-bottle tray in a cardboard carrier, through which the QR codes remain visible and scannable at the same time.
Being one of the winning products, the idea is now being progressed within the Emmi team and examined for its potential feasibility.
For Envases Europe, which includes Envases Aesch AG (public limited company), sustainability is a top priority and is already being implemented in many areas, for example by increasing energy efficiency and reducing material consumption. In 2022, the corporate group was awarded the bronze medal in the EcoVadis assessment system. At the beginning of the year, the company joined the Scienced Based Target Initiative, which aims to define binding, science-based objectives and measures to make the entire company even more sustainable.
