Reduced sugar blackcurrant jam

Transcription

1 Carbon Ready Reckoner Worked Example Reduced sugar blackcurrant jam This worked example shows how the WRAP Carbon Ready Reckoner can be used to provide insight into the carbon footprint of reduced sugar blackcurrant jam in glass jar Date: October 2013

2 Reduced sugar blackcurrant jam 1 Pack description Itemise and describe all packaging components. Consumer unit (primary packaging) The consumer unit is the packaging the consumer takes out of the shop. Some products are sold in collations, and the entire collation would be regarded as the consumer unit. This consumer unit consists of three packaging components: glass jar with 69mm twist off finish; steel cap 69mm twist cap; and paper label varnished paper with full colour printing covering 95% of the circumference of the jar. The WRAP Carbon Ready Reckoner does not assess minor materials, such as the can liner and hot melt adhesive on the label, so these are not included. To calculate the impact of changes, the number of consumer units produced per annum is required. In this example, one million jars of blackcurrant jam are sold per annum. If this pack format were used for a range of fruits, then the total number of consumer units produced in the range could be included in the assessment. This jar contains 400g of jam, which provides 28 average portions. Before removing the product, it is noted that the headspace is not excessive (excessive headspace may indicate an oversized jar).

3 Reduced sugar blackcurrant jam 2 Product information Information required Product weight per pack (g or ml) Existing pack 400g Servings per pack 28 Number of packs per year 1,000,000 Secondary packaging The secondary packaging is the packaging used to collate consumer units for distribution, and is not intended to be sold with the product. Typical secondary packaging includes corrugated board boxes, shelfready display packaging, trays, and shrink-wrap film. The secondary packaging for the six jars of 400g blackcurrant jam consists of three packaging components: corrugated board tray with bleached white outer layer, externally printed with two (red and black) colours, approximately 40% coverage, sealed with hot melt adhesive at four corners; shrink film; and self-adhesive white label printed with product details and bar code.

4 Reduced sugar blackcurrant jam 3 While considerable savings may be achieved by the use of reusable transit packaging, the WRAP Carbon Ready Reckoner is not able to assess this as an existing component or new improvement. The Carbon Ready Reckoner also does not assess minor materials, so the hot melt adhesive is not included. Palletisation The WRAP Carbon Ready Reckoner will calculate savings from improved pallet utilisation, but does not include savings from changes in tertiary packaging such as stretch-wrap, layer boards, and pallet top covers. Changes in size to the consumer unit and secondary packaging may affect the number of units that may be placed on a pallet or contained within another shipment unit, such as a Pal-box. Details of pallet configuration and transport will be needed to calculate distribution savings from reductions in pack weight. Packaging and transport data Packaging materials and weights Each packaging component is weighed to +/- 0.1g and the weight and material recorded as shown on the table below. Reference can be made to packaging specifications for weights, but actual pack weights should be checked.

5 Reduced sugar blackcurrant jam 4 Consumer unit Glass jars are manufactured using a number of moulds which wear with use; the average weight of the glass jar was calculated from a sample of 24 jars. As flint (clear), green, and amber glass have different recycled content it is necessary to note the type of glass. The cap lid was calculated from the total weight of a batch of 50 components. Existing components consumer unit Component name Existing material Current weight (g) Glass jar Glass flint Cap including liner Steel 11.4 Paper label Other paper/card 1.3 Secondary packaging The average tray weight was calculated from the total weight of a batch of 10 trays. The average weight of the shrink wrap was calculated from the total weight of 10 shrink wraps

6 Reduced sugar blackcurrant jam 5 Existing components secondary packaging Component name Existing material Current weight (g) Tray (2x3 cans size) Corrugated board 28.3 Shrink-wrap PE Film/bags 15.0 Paper case label Other paper/card 0.8 Palletisation and transport data This data is used to calculate the carbon impact of packaging changes on transport. The data required is: Palletisation and transport data Information required Existing Type of vehicle used for delivery Rigid truck used most often capacity up to 17tonnes Average one-way distance to retailer or RDC (km) 150km Number of consumer units / case 6 Number of cases per layer 30 Number of layers per pallet 7 Number of consumer units per pallet 1080 (6 jars/case x 30 cases/layer x 6 layers) Number of pallets per vehicle 16

7 Reduced sugar blackcurrant jam 6 A range of delivery vehicles are used to ship to various RDCs, so most typical vehicles were selected and average distances were calculated at 150 km (one way). The vehicle options are limited to: van (less than 3.5tonnes load capacity); rigid vehicle (3.5 to 7.5tonnes load capacity); rigid vehicle (7.5 to 17tonnes load capacity); articulated vehicle (3.5 to 33tonnes load capacity); and articulated vehicle (over 33tonnes load capacity). In this case a rigid (>17tonne) vehicle is assumed. The number of pallets of this product that this vehicle will carry is 16. Pack improvements The WRAP Carbon Ready Reckoner will calculate carbon savings from various pack improvements. Each is considered as it applies to this pack of blackcurrant jam. This pack was compared with other 400g jars of fruit on the market. Some data on the WRAP UK Packaging Benchmark Database is available at: www2.wrap.org.uk/retail_supply_chain/research_tools/tools/uk_packagi ng_benchmark/index.html Packaging suppliers may be able to offer alternative pack options. Potential improvements to reduce carbon impact were considered for each pack component. The factors included in the WRAP Carbon Ready Reckoner are: packaging weight; product concentration number of servings/portions; secondary packaging or palletisation; glass: colour and/or recycled content; other materials: recycled content and/or recycling rate; and other changes (listed at end of section).

8 Reduced sugar blackcurrant jam 7 Packaging weight Glass jar: There are lighter jars available in the market. The jar weight can be reduced from 215.3g to 171.4g with a reduction of 43.9g in weight. The lighter jar has capacity of 454g, an additional 54g more than the current jar. The number of servings increase from 28 to 32. The weight glass per serving is reduced from 7.69g ( ) to 5.36g ( ): a 30% reduction. Steel cap: Change the cap to an Eco-cap which is the lightest twist-off cap option available. New weight of cap 7.7g. Label: The existing label covers 95% of the jar circumference. A label redesign would allow the same information to be printed on a smaller label. Also reducing the thickness of paper will provide further weight savings. The new weight of the label is 0.8g. Product concentration number of servings The amount of product can be increased from 400g to 454g with the use of a lighter glass jar with larger capacity. The number of servings is increased from 28 to 32. Secondary packaging or palletisation Corrugated board tray: A change to best in class E flute reduce the tray weight from 28.3g to 23.2g, saving 5.1g will give a 8% weight reduction to. Shrink film: The weight of LDPE shrink film can be reduced by use of thinner gauge film (often combined with better performance polymers and film structure), and minimising any film overlap on the base join. No weight reduction opportunity found on this pack.

9 Reduced sugar blackcurrant jam 8 Case label: The label is the minimum size required for the printed information. Direct printing of information directly onto tray is not possible as it may be obscured by shrink film. Changes in pack size or shape may allow weight reduction in secondary packaging and an increase in the number of consumer units on a pallet. Currently there are 30 cases per layer and pallet is stacked 7 layers high with a total of 1260 consumer units per pallet. Options considered were: Change from six jars per tray to twelve per tray. Since blackcurrant jam does not have high volume sales, the shelf facing will be small, so larger pack unlikely to be acceptable to retailers. Small carbon saving in tray weight could be partly negated by requirement for increased gauge shrink film. The number of consumer unit remains unchanged with this new configuration. Increase in number of cases per layer. There are currently 17 cases per layer, with an efficiency of 99.81% - a good result. Thus no further changes in the number of cases are recommended.

10 Reduced sugar blackcurrant jam 9 Calculation of pallet efficiency Inputs Calculation Area Case size 225mm x 171mm 38,475 mm 2 Number of cases per layer m 2 30 x 38, Pallet size 1200mm x 1000mm 1.2m 2 Pallet size less 10mm at edge to protect cases 1180mm x 980mm m 2 Pallet efficiency % % Maximum number of cases possible per layer 1,154,000 64, versus 30 actual Figures of less than 90% efficiency are considered poor. The maximum number of cases per layer is a quick assessment of the of the case layout efficiency. Case layout may be optimised using specialised software. Glass colour and recycled content Due to demand and availability of different glass colours, the recycled content of glass is Green (72.4%), Flint or clear (33.4%) and Amber 28.1%. Since glass jars may be used for a variety of jams in which

11 Reduced sugar blackcurrant jam 10 appearance is an important marketing factor, no change from flint glass was acceptable. If a packaging supplier is able to offer a higher recycled content for Flint glass, this may be used to calculate carbon savings. Other materials recycled content and/or recycling rate If higher recycled content is available for other materials (apart from paper and board) this may be used to calculate carbon savings. There is currently no facility within the WRAP Carbon Ready Reckoner to calculate the effect of increased recycling rate, such as glass jars with a returned deposit value. Other changes Other beneficial changes that could be made to this pack are: change corrugated board tray outer layer from bleached paper to natural; reduce to amount of ink on tray coverage from 40% to 20% or less; and change case label to linerless label and eliminate silicone-coated paper backing.

12 Reduced sugar blackcurrant jam 11 WRAP Carbon Ready Reckoner Data entry This section describes the process used to enter the previous figures from existing and new packing components and calculation of the relative CO 2 eq impact. Logging in The WRAP Carbon Ready Reckoner was accessed via: and the correct Username and Password entered. A new project was created by clicking on the green button CREATE A NEW PROJECT. Definition A description of the pack being examined was entered, with sufficient information to ensure it is not confused with any other project. Under Which aspects of the packaged product are being changed? the boxes relating to packaging weight, product concentration/servings and secondary packaging or palletisation are selected.

13 Reduced sugar blackcurrant jam 12 The product measurement unit, weight, servings per pack, and number of packs per annum were entered under the Existing column as shown above. By changing to a best in class glass jar, the new pack can hold up to 454g of jam which provides 32 servings, and so 454 and 32 have been entered under the New column. Click green SAVE button then move to next page: Consumer Unit. Consumer unit This page allows the entry of consumer unit packaging components: glass jar; cap with liner; label. Click ADD NEW COMPONENT button.

14 Reduced sugar blackcurrant jam 13 Enter a description of each component, current material (from drop down list); current weight, and new weight (as applicable) for each component as shown: When each component entry complete, click the green SAVE button. It is always possible to edit or delete components later. The figure for Current Recycled Content is automatically generated, but may be changed, except for paper and board components. When complete each entry may be viewed with the CO 2 eq figures already calculated. Even if there is no change in weight, all components should be included as they contribute to the final pack weight which affects the carbon impact of distribution. Component entries may be deleted D or edited E using the small buttons on the right hand side.

15 Reduced sugar blackcurrant jam 14 As the jars of jam have secondary packaging, the Yes radio button has been selected. Click Secondary>> to move to the next page. If you wish to alter your selections it is possible to navigate by these buttons or via the top or bottom navigation bars. Secondary packaging There are six jars in a shrink wrap case, so 6 is entered into the Existing box. As this is not being changed, 6 is entered into the New box. Components are added in the same way as before, using the green ADD A NEW COMPONENT button. The weights of the existing and new trays are entered. The weights of both existing and new shrink-film and case label are the same, but must be entered.

16 Reduced sugar blackcurrant jam 15 Press the green SAVE button and then Palletisation to move to the next page. Palletisation This page allows the entry of changes in palletisation and calculates the carbon savings from any reduction in pallet numbers and the reduction in packaging component weights. The type of vehicle is selected from the drop-down box Rigid (>17t) and the one-way distance entered as 150km. The calculated number of consumer packs per pallet is entered as 1260 and number of pallets per vehicle is 16 for the Existing pack. As there is no change, the same entries are made for the New Pack.

17 Reduced sugar blackcurrant jam 16 Clicking the green SAVE button will save these entries and calculate the carbon impact and savings in the yellow boxes. The reduction in the number of vehicle journeys needed come from the increase in number of servings per pack. To view the final results, click on the Results button on the right hand side to progress to the next page. Results This page shows the results of the calculations, and shows a 29.00% reduction in weight CO 2 eq.

18 Reduced sugar blackcurrant jam 17 In this example, we have made changes to the packaging weight, product concentration and secondary packaging. The tick boxes above are a check of the improvements included in the calculations. The results below show the change in CO 2 eq between the Existing and New packs, and demonstrate in a pie chart the relative impact of different packaging components and transit.

19 Reduced sugar blackcurrant jam 18 Note that the weight of the packaging is now expressed in weight/cu (consumer unit or primary pack). Clicking on the Show difference on the top right hand side of the Consumer Unit table will show the calculated savings.

20 Reduced sugar blackcurrant jam 19 Before implementing any packaging change you will need to ensure that changes will not cause adverse effects during filling, processing and distribution. Pack image is always an important marketing consideration.

21 While we have tried to make sure this worked example is accurate, we cannot accept responsibility or be held legally responsible for any loss or damage arising out of or in connection with this information being inaccurate, incomplete or misleading. This material is copyrighted. You can copy it free of charge as long as the material is accurate and not used in a misleading context. You must identify the source of the material and acknowledge our copyright. You must not use material to endorse or suggest we have endorsed a commercial product or service. For more details please see our terms and conditions on our website at