Packaging
Packaging reuse: a technical challenge for the entire value chain
23
Jan
Published on : 23/01/2025
Patrice Dole - January 2025
Packaging reuse is not just a new food distribution model with an additional technological brick in the container washing process. On the contrary, it raises new technical issues for the whole of the value chain. Packaging manufacturers, washers and the food and beverage industries that use reusable packaging will have to implement tests and control methods to guarantee the quality and safety of the products they market.
All tests carried out by packaging manufacturers will gradually have to be based on well-defined protocols. The CTCPA is working with IPC and LNE as part of the European Buddie Pack project to set up a pre-standardization process.
Last but not least, the aim of reuse is to minimize the environmental impact of packaged products. Any over-quality, whether in terms of design by the packaging manufacturer, disposal in terms of sorting by washers, or cleaning-disinfection specifications demanded by users, will have a negative impact on the environmental benefits of reuse. In addition, the use of packaging with inadequate functional, appearance or decontamination characteristics will also lead to an increase in environmental impact, as a result of the increased waste produced at different levels of the value chain. Reusing packaging therefore does not change the rule already applied to single-use packaging: the "right packaging" must be found, optimized for the product application and the desired lifespan. The CTCPA supports companies in their overall efforts to optimize the quality, safety and environmental impact associated with the marketing of products packaged in single-use or reusable packaging.
Packaging reuse is not just a new food distribution model with an additional technological brick in the container washing process. On the contrary, it raises new technical issues for the whole of the value chain. Packaging manufacturers, washers and the food and beverage industries that use reusable packaging will have to implement tests and control methods to guarantee the quality and safety of the products they market.
- Manufacturers of reusable packaging must set up "reusability" tests to establish the application potential of their packaging.which aim to establish the potential application of their packaging: average number of cycles withstood in a manufacturing process for products to be defined, restrictions on use and washing conditions, hygienic design and recommended control criteria, anticipated defects in appearance, anticipated leaks and loss of functionality and recommended control methodologies, assessment of the food suitability of packaging at all stages of aging. All the tests to be carried out must take into accountfour uncertainty factors:
- Firstly, reusablereusable packaging will age and be damaged to varying degreesdepending on the wide range of situations in which they are actually used. The tests to be carried out must be based on rather unfavorable situations in terms of packaging aging/damage. Together with its partners IPC and CITEO, the CTCPA has developed accelerated aging and damage methodologies, the conditions of which are defined on the basis of the packaging's intended use. These accelerated ageing procedures are systematically applied before any packaging appearance, suitability for consumption, functionality or cleanability tests. Aging/damage simulates the stresses of long storage and processing in contact with food, the various mechanical stresses applied to the object and its surfaces, and the physico-chemical stresses associated with successive washings.
- Secondly,the stage of use and sorting by consumers represents a loss of industrial traceabilitywhich makes it necessary to take into account various situations of misuse of reusable packaging. For example, chemical contamination linked to the use or storage of packaging in inappropriate conditions must be taken into account in risk management. Conditions for washing (decontamination) and use (migration) must be defined to guarantee control of the chemical risk. The CTCPA has set up challenge tests to assess exposure to accidental contaminants from reusable plastic packaging; even when washed under aggressive conditions, the decontamination effect is limited, so decontamination challenge tests usually lead to restrictions on conditions of use.In addition, with partners from the RMT Actia CHLEAN, the CTCPA is taking part in the ANR-funded TransContaFood research project, which aims to study the various residual chemical, microbiological and allergenic contaminations in and on plastic and glass packaging.
- Third uncertainty factor,consumer acceptability of packaging defects (color, deformation, scratches). The tests set up by the CTCPA, and to be carried out by packaging manufacturers as part of the reusability assessment, enable the evolution of appearance characteristics to be simulated and quantified. End-users (the food industry) will then have to take this information into account to restrict the use of packaging according to their assessment of consumer acceptability, and if necessary, adapt their communication to change the limits of acceptability.
- A final factor of uncertaintyreusable packaging will potentially be washed by operators using technologies that place varying degrees of stress on the packaging.. As packaging manufacturers cannot, by definition, have exhaustive information on all industrial practices, the tests carried out at their level will take into account severe process conditions, which are nevertheless representative of the washing conditions commonly used by the industry. This has consequences for the accelerated ageing conditions discussed above, which will not simulate the "worst case" of industrial washing practices; but above all, the cleaning-disinfection efficiency tests carried out by packaging manufacturers will therefore only provideindicative datain terms of (i) cleanability under reference conditions, and (ii) identification of the most critical areas of the packaging on which washing efficiency checks under industrial conditions should preferably be based. In fact, washing efficiency will be the sole responsibility of the industrial washer, which will carry out a set of operations of its choice to meet end-of-process quality targets.
All tests carried out by packaging manufacturers will gradually have to be based on well-defined protocols. The CTCPA is working with IPC and LNE as part of the European Buddie Pack project to set up a pre-standardization process.
- Washerswill carry out sorting operations (rejecting packaging which does not have the expected characteristics) and in-line checks at various stages of the process, the characteristics of which may vary according to individual industrial strategies. Operators will be subject to a performance obligation, i.e. to achieve the expected characteristics in terms of functionality, appearance, container-content interactions, and cleaning-disinfection. The effectiveness of process cleaning and disinfection will have to be validated via a challenge test involving the use of artificial microbiological contamination. Unlike in-line control methodologies, which are left to the free choice of industrial operators, this latter test will have to be based on a well-defined protocol. The CTCPA, coordinator of the ACTIA RMT Chlean network, has defined an experimental approach which should serve as a reference for the eventual introduction of a standardized test.
- The food industries that use reusable packagingwill necessarily have to adapt the parameters of their entire process to ensure that packaged products meet quality and food safety requirements. In all cases, this will mean adding control and, if necessary, decontamination stages to be carried out in-house, or revising the packaging decontamination specifications sent to industrial washer suppliers. The final validation of the product's lifespan will therefore be carried out at the end of this process of optimizing process conditions, in a similar way to the validation of the lifespan of a product packaged in single-use packaging.To this end, the CTCPA can support you in validating your processes for the use of reusable packaging.
Last but not least, the aim of reuse is to minimize the environmental impact of packaged products. Any over-quality, whether in terms of design by the packaging manufacturer, disposal in terms of sorting by washers, or cleaning-disinfection specifications demanded by users, will have a negative impact on the environmental benefits of reuse. In addition, the use of packaging with inadequate functional, appearance or decontamination characteristics will also lead to an increase in environmental impact, as a result of the increased waste produced at different levels of the value chain. Reusing packaging therefore does not change the rule already applied to single-use packaging: the "right packaging" must be found, optimized for the product application and the desired lifespan. The CTCPA supports companies in their overall efforts to optimize the quality, safety and environmental impact associated with the marketing of products packaged in single-use or reusable packaging.
