Woolworths PaperSeal® Meat Tray
Company:
Woolworths Food Company (Woolworths Group)
Country: Australia and New Zealand
Category: Food
Woolworths moved a specialty range of grass fed beef to sustainably-sourced, fibre-based, kerbside-recyclable meat tray packaging with the most innovative consumer education on-pack of any packaging in the region. The entire back of the tray incorporates consumer awareness and informative Australasian Recycling Labelling (ARL) communication.
The new paper tray format utilises a unique technology that incorporates an intuitive design of an easily peelable top film and bottom film to facilitate better recyclability. The new design has also been lightweighted by 9.7 grams per tray and uses 75% less plastic versus the previous packaging format.
Category: SPECIAL AWARD - Sustainability
Special Award: Silver Award
At Woolworths, we know sustainable packaging is important to our customers. On our journey to improve recyclability of our Own Brand products, we have transitioned several of our Specially Selected and Grass Fed beef range to paper trays. The transition included moving from a non-recyclable laminated plastic tray and non-REDcycle compatible lidding film to a curbside recyclable paper meat tray is also FSC-certified with REDcycle compatible top and bottom films.
Woolworths also understands the complexities and challenges that surround recycling packaging. For one, choosing packaging materials that are technically recyclable does not necessarily indicate the packaging will be recycled. Another key aspect to consider is the possibility to separate the components which is another desirable feature of the PaperSeal® Skin tray. Not only are the tray components separable, but they can also be separated easily without needing any tool which allows consumers to then recycle the plastic-free paper tray at curbside whilst the barrier lining can be returned to a Woolworths store after rinsing to remove any meat residue. In partnership with the RED Group, the returned soft plastics are recycled through the REDcycle Program.
Data analysis of empirical data to compare the two formats is summarily presented below to demonstrate the the paper tray sustainability credentials:
Previous Format: Plastic Tray + Plastic Lidding Film + Plastic D-wrap
New Format: Paper Tray with peelable Plastic Barrier Film + Plastic Lidding Film + Plastic Flash Label (”New”)
Previous Format:
Tray substrate: Multi-layered PET/PVC
Dimensions: 239mm x 167mm x 13mm
Weight: 30.57g
PREP classification: Disposal
Lidding film substrate: Multi-layered PET/PVC
Dimensions: 239mm x 167mm x 1mm
Weight: 4g
PREP classification: Disposal
Label substrate: D-Wrap self adhesive label made from PP
Dimensions: 342mm x 71mm x 1mm
Weight: 3g
PREP classification: Disposal due to label being permanently adhered to non-REDcycle compatible film.
New Format
Tray substrate: FSC Certified Paperboard
Dimensions: 237mm x 166mm x 13mm
Weight: 19.84g
PREP classification: Recyclable with lost value
Bottom film substrate: LDPE/PVdC
Dimensions: 265mm x 195mm x 1mm
Weight: 4g
PREP classification: Conditionally recyclable. Return to store.
Top film substrate: LDPE/EVOH/EVA
Dimensions: 237mm x 166mm x 1mm
Weight: 4g
PREP classification: Conditionally recyclable. Return to store.*
Label substrate: Flash label made from PP
Dimensions: 25mm x 25mm x 1mm
Weight: 0.00015g
PREP classification: Conditionally recyclable. Return to store*
* Note these components are a combined disposal due to the label adhering permanently to the top film structure.
At Woolworths we are committed to taking our environmental and community responsibilities seriously. This is one part of that commitment to minimise our impact on the environment and encourage recycling.
As part of our strategic pathway to 2025 Woolworths have performed extensive external panelling and testing to ensure that we stay true to our core values and guiding principles of People, Planet and Product. This includes not only our commitments to sustainable packaging and tackling packaging waste but also to deforestation and animal welfare.
For more information please follow the link: https://www.woolworthsgroup.com.au/content/Document/WoolworthsGroupSustainabilityPlan2025_Final.pdf
As part of the aforementioned research Woolworths engaged an independent and globally recognised 3rd party company to perform market research on our behalf in the areas of Sustainability and found the following reported data points*:
50% of customers rated the red meat category as being the most important product categories for the business to focus our sustainability efforts in, with 35% rating it in the top 3 of all presented categories (11)
42% of customers panelled were concerned with unnecessary packaging on products purchased.
25% of customers panelled rated reduction of plastic as one of the top 3 most important issues in Sustainability for retailers to focus on
58% of customers had a desire to change their buying behaviours to favour products that were focussed on reducing plastic and that 38% of customers will chose their stores based on this commitment to reduce plastic
Aimed with the above key points, the Woolworths Own Brand team is delivering on our commitments to our customers by reducing plastic and providing better recycling options for our Own Brand products in key areas of the business.
*1,499 respondents surveyed during this research.
At Woolworths we are committed to taking our environmental and community responsibilities seriously. This is one part of that commitment to minimise our impact on the environment and encourage recycling.
As such Woolworths has backed the National Packaging Targets, which will see 100% of all packaging become reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025 and has set ambitious targets above and beyond the targets to accelerate the target’s momentum. To help us achieve these targets, we have a team of dedicated sustainability specialists, working together with our suppliers to explore new opportunities in the packaging sustainability space.
As part of this project, we have actively improved our packaging in regards to the following aspects of the National Packaging Targets:
- All Packaging 100% recyclable, reusable or compostable: We have transitioned into fully recyclable packaging for the - skus involved in this project.
- 70% of plastic packaging being recycled or composted: By transitioning away from non-recyclable plastic packaging, this project enables an increase in recycling of plastic. Additionally, the ARL story on the back of the pack is aimed at influencing our customers recycling habits by providing clear instructions on the steps they need to take to properly recycle all of the packaging components.
- Phase out problematic and unnecessary single use plastic: Through this project we have eliminated 114 tonnes of non-recyclable plastic.
The successful launching of PaperSeal® Skin tray across several of our meat products acts as another catalyst towards meeting our packaging sustainability goals and commitments and our aim is fundamentally not just about limiting negative impacts but rather pushing the boundaries to collaboratively create positive benefits.
Details for validation below:
Tray Weight (non-recyclable) = 37.57g
Total Sales/annum = 3,056,456
Total Weight = 114,831kg
Tonnage = 114.8 tonne
The single-piece tray itself is produced from renewable fibres from sustainably managed forests with a barrier lining on the inside surface using a polyolefin-rich film to meet its required functionality and performance. This barrier-lined paper tray weighs 6.7g less than the previous rigid plastic tray and when all the packaging components that make up the previous and new packaging systems are accounted, the new format is still lighter (lower packaging to product ratio) by 9.7g or 29 tonnes of packaging materials per annum. With the PaperSeal® Skin tray format, its lightweight feature offers sustainability and operational benefits that cascades through our entire supply chain. The reduced weight also provides extra convenience to our valued customers when shopping instore.
In response to the growing concern on the use of plastics in packaging, the transition to the PaperSeal® Skin tray format across 7 popular beef cuts in the Woolworths Specially Selected and Grass Fed beef range enabled our business to further reduce our plastic usage by 114 tonnes per annum. This milestone is achieved because the new packaging system uses 75% less plastic than previous.
Data Source to support claims:
% Plastic Reduction per Unit:
Weight of Plastic in Previous Format = 37.57g
Weight of Plastic in New Format = 8.00015g
Plastic Reduction per Unit = 29.56985g
% Plastic Reduction per Unit (raw) = 78.71%
% Plastic Reduction per Unit (claimed) = 75%
Tray Weight Reduction per Unit:
Tare Weight of Film-laminated Plastic Tray = 23.84g
Tare Weight of Film-lined Paper Tray = 30.57g
Tray Weight Reduction per Unit = 6.73g
Total Packaging Weight Reduction per Unit and per Annum:
Tare Weight of Previous Format = 37.57g
Tare Weight of New Format = 27.84g
Weight Reduction per Unit = 9.73g
Sales Units per Annum = 3,056,456
Total Packaging Weight Reduction per Annum (tonnage) = 29.74 tonnes
% Paperboard from Sustainable Source (FSC-certified):
Quantity of Sustainable Paper in new Format = 19.84g
% Sustainable Paper in new Format = 71.26%
Note: Data source is packaging supplier specification and destructive testing of actual packaging (minimum 100 units).
https://www.woolworthsgroup.com.au/page/media/Latest_News/recyclable-meat-trays-the-next-step-in-woolworths%E2%80%99-own-brand-sustainable-packaging-drive/
Woolworths is actively pursuing an ambitious target whereby by 2025 we will power our business with 100% renewable electricity. However we do not have any specific supporting data relating to energy efficiency for this project.
https://www.woolworthsgroup.com.au/content/Document/WoolworthsGroupSustainabilityPlan2025_Final.pdf
Woolworths was the first retailer to sign up to the Australian Packaging Covenant Organization (APCO) membership back in 2007 and rolled out our first Australian Recycling Logo (ARL) on our Own Brand Products in November 2017.
Since its inception, Woolworths have rolled out ARL’s on over 2,500 Own Brand products and has publicly committed to actively promoting recycling, including displaying the ARL on 100% of Own Brand product packaging by the end of 2023.
As part of this commitment the Woolworths Own Brand Packaging team in conjunction with the Design and Marketing teams ensured we showcased ARL instructions on the back of the packaging of the new Paper Tray (refer to high res image). The graphics clearly show the ARL’s, along with written instructions and corresponding visual aids of how to remove all the packaging components for a more effective communication across diverse customers. This was all aimed at educating and promoting responsible consumer behaviour and encouraging them to perform such recycling behaviour using the easy-to-follow conditional recycling instructions.