Chilled ready meal potato mash

Transcription

1 Carbon Ready Reckoner Worked Example Chilled ready meal potato mash This worked example shows how the WRAP Carbon Ready Reckoner can be used to provide insight into the carbon footprint of chilled potato mash in a PET tray Date: October 2013

2 Chilled ready meal potato mash 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: black ovenable PET tray, round; coated paper board sleeve with glue-strip bonding; and lidding film heat-sealed onto tray. The WRAP Carbon Ready Reckoner does not assess minor materials, such as inks and the label adhesive, so this is not included. To calculate the impact of changes, the number of consumer units produced per annum is required. In this example, one million trays of chilled mash are sold per annum. If this pack format were used for a range of chilled mash, then the total number of consumer units produced in the range could be included in the assessment. This tray pack contains 450g chilled mash, which provides two average portions. Before removing the product it is noted that the headspace is not excessive (excessive headspace may indicate an oversized tray).

3 Chilled ready meal potato mash 2 Product information Information required Product weight per pack (g or ml) Existing pack 450g Servings per pack 2 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. There was no secondary packaging for this product. 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. Palletisation and transport was not considered for this pack.

4 Chilled ready meal potato mash 3 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. Consumer unit Thermoformed bake seal sell PET trays for ready meals are manufactured by heating a plastic sheet to a pliable forming temperature, formed to a specific shape in a mould, and trimmed to create the desired product. The average weight of the tray was calculated from a sample of 10 trays and is considered relatively heavy. The paper sleeve is relatively heavy. The weight was calculated from a sample of 10 chilled mash packs. The lidding film, which is heat-sealed onto the tray, is made from PET and at 20 microns thickness is considered relatively thin. The average weight was calculated from a batch of 10 packs of mashed potato.

5 Chilled ready meal potato mash 4 Existing components consumer unit Component name Existing material Current weight (g) PET tray PET Rigids (non bottles) 16.9 Lidding film PET Bottles 4.4 Sleeve Other Paper/Card 10.9 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 mashed potato. This pack was compared with other 450g ready meal plastic trays on the market. Some data on the WRAP UK Packaging Benchmark Database 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).

6 Chilled ready meal potato mash 5 Packaging weight Plastic tray: The PET tray is relatively heavy and there is scope for lightweighting the tray by approximately17% to 14g. Lidding film: The plastic film is made from PET is relatively thin with some overlap for easier removal. There is scope for reducing the thickness to 19 microns. The total weight of the film is relatively high (see worked example number 17 for macaroni cheese) and it should be possible to reduce material by 86% from 4.4g to 0.6g. Paper sleeve: The amount of paper board used for the sleeve could be reduced by at least 8% to 10g. A label redesign would still allow displaying the necessary product information. Product concentration number of servings Larger tray sizes of chilled mashed potato are widely available. Not having the option of buying smaller sizes may not be acceptable to customers in single or two person households. Due to the limited shelf life this could lead to more product waste if product is not eaten. Other materials recycled content and/or recycling rate There is an opportunity for changing the current PET in the tray to a tray with up to 50% recycled PET (rpet) without impacts on product performance. Previous trials by Wrap have demonstrated that food grade rpet can successfully be introduced into thermoformed packaging such as bowls and trays (see

7 Chilled ready meal potato mash 6 Other changes Other beneficial changes that could be made to this pack are: change to a non-carbon black tray to facilitate NIR detection in recycling; change glue bonding on paper sleeve to interlocking system; and eliminate the sleeve altogether by directly printing onto the lid and/or tray (see worked example number 28 for thermoformed egg tray, for the tray the suitability for heating the pack in the oven would require further investigation). The thickness of the lid may have to be increased slightly. Previous trials by Wrap on removable colour systems in the recycling of thermoformed PET have been successful, showing relatively little additional impact on the environment ( systems%20final%20report1.pdf). 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.

8 Chilled ready meal potato mash 7 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. The potential improvements previously identified only relate to packaging weight and other materials. Under Which aspects of the packaged product are being changed? the boxes relating to Packaging Weight; and Other materials: Recycled Content and/or Recycling Rate are therefore selected.

9 Chilled ready meal potato mash 8 The product measurement unit, weight, servings per pack, and number of packs per annum were entered under the Existing column as shown above. Click green SAVE button then move to next page: Consumer Unit. Consumer unit This page allows the entry of consumer unit packaging components: Plastic tray, lidding film, and paper sleeve. Click ADD NEW COMPONENT button.

10 Chilled ready meal potato mash 9 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. For the plastic tray, we have increased the new recycled content to 50% in the field New Rcy Cont. (%). When complete each entry may be viewed with the CO 2 eq figures already calculated.

11 Chilled ready meal potato mash 10 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. As the trays have no secondary packaging, the No radio button 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. Since there were no details of pallet configuration and transport, we can go directly to the results page. To view the final results, click on the Results button on the right hand side to progress to the next page. The weight savings seen here are from the light weighting of the primary packaging.

12 Chilled ready meal potato mash 11 Results This page shows the results of the calculations, and shows a 34.25% reduction in weight CO 2 eq. In this example, we have made changes to the packaging weight of the consumer unit and other materials: Recycled content. 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.

13 Chilled ready meal potato mash 12 Clicking on the Show difference on the top right hand side of the Consumer Unit table will show the calculated savings. 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.

14 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