Damit besteht für dieses Verpackungsmaterial über-haupt kein Entsorgungsproblem. Prof. Braungart bietet sogar die Möglichkeit an, diese Folie mit dem Samen seltener Pflanzen herzustellen. Man kann sie überall jederzeit auftauen lassen und trägt so zur Artenerhaltung bei. Das wäre Umweltschutz pur! Schlussbemerkungen Das Verpacken steht vor allem aus Sicht des Um-weltschutzes, aber auch unter dem Aspekt der Ver-braucherfreundlichkeit und aus Kostengründen im Blickpunkt von Produzenten und Konsumenten. Er-kennbar ist, dass sich qualitative Neuentwicklungen in das Gefüge der klassischen Verpackungen ein-bringen werden – und das zum Vorteil der Umwelt und des Verbrauchers. Prof. Dr. habil. Heinz Sielaff und Dr. sc. Heinz Schleusener F Continued from page 10 The two sides of packaging The packaging ordinance (VerpackV) of 21 August 1998 (BGBI. I p 2379), last amend-ment by article 5 paragraph 19 of the regulation of 24 February 2012 (BGBI. I p 212), defines the terminology and describes the requirements made by legislation concerning packaging and the handling of packaging materials. It aims at avoiding or reducing the amount of packaging waste. Manufactures and sellers are legally bound to fulfil these obligations. A majority of consumers takes the matter of environmentally friendly packaging serious, 75% of them prefer recyclable packaging. Regarding the additional costs for environmentally-friendly packaging, things are a bit different. Only about 25% of them are ready to pay more. The economic analysis of technological processes divides processes into elementary steps i.e. technological basic operations. Only those steps that generate a profit increase of the object handled are accepted. At first glance, all packaging operations seem to be unprofitable. The alternative would be not to use packaging at all. But many packaging operations have proven to be integral parts of the value added chain. Examples for this are preser-ved food products in glass or metal containers or the production of sausages. It‘s true that nothing would work in our industry without packaging. This leaves us with the task of finding environmen-tally friendly, cheap packaging solutions, especially for the final packaging. Let‘s have a closer look at the proportions between product and packaging. Many products are not only packed in primary and final packaging but are also packed in a secondary packaging i.e. an outer packaging, which contains a given amount of items and a tertiary i.e. transport packaging. Not only the final product is packed. During the production process, packaging is frequently required as well. In times of globalisation, internationally used terms are increasingly used. In the case of pa-ckaging these include picking, packaging and palletising. Picking refers to the process of primary packaging. This is where the product is wrapped in foils or filled in bags, glasses or cans. Packaging basically refers to the composition of large packaging units, which are also packed in a secondary packaging. Many products are packed in cardboard, foils or trays. Pallets are large-volume transport packagings which also include roll containers, trolleys, slip sheets and strapping ribbons. Which type of primary packaging is the most important one in the meat industry? During slaughtering and cutting these are pallets. They later become a secondary packaging during further processing steps such as sausage production. Pallets have a large recirculation ratio. Products from the cutting area that are sold in supermarkets, are packed in air-tight plastic foils and sometimes in trays. Preserved food products have already been mentioned above. Glass and metal are the most frequently used materials in these cases. The situation during sausage products is also very clearly arranged. Common casings include natural intes-tines, H. Sielaff H. Schleusener artificial casings or animal skin. Additionally, sausage products are filled in glass jars or cans. Sliced sausage products are packed in various ways. The packaging depends on whether the product is sold over the counter or on the self-service shelf. New approaches are sought after Eco-balances examine what type of packaging and how many reuse-cycles would help to reduce the environmental damage. According to this, a packaging shouldn‘t be judged and compared to others only by its composition. Especially in the case of packed food, the effects of packaging regarding product safety and the suppression of germ growth must be kept in mind. While environment experts largely agree on this aspect, there are differing evaluations and approaches regarding the eco-balance. Some focus on CO2-emissions caused during the production and recycling of packaging materials. Others attach more importance to energy and water consumption. Some see the number of cycles of a reusable packaging optimistically, while others are more pessimistic. This makes a direct comparison difficult. In the course of the past 50 years, environmental considerations have been becoming a natural thing. That‘s why it became more and more important to develop concepts that ensure a high recycling rate of packaging materials and/or raw materials. However, the quality of raw materials de-creases during the recycling process (downcycling). New approaches take a totally different path. A starting point would be to avoid packaging mate-rials based on mineral oil. More than 99% of all plastic materials are based on mineral oil. Recycling and disposal of these materials always damages the environment. Bio-degradable products such as bioplastics are genuine alternatives. Their raw-materials are based on plants such as potatoes, maize or celluloses. They are compostable. Bio-plastics are sustainable raw-materials, which means that the renewable raw-materials can be replaced faster then they are consumed. Plants consume CO2 while they are growing. During this process CO2 is transformed into glucoses, which is the basic raw-material used in bio-plastics. It‘s only this share of CO2 that is emitted into the atmosphere again, which means that the CO2 emission is balanced. Bio-plastics can be used to generate thermal energy. The energy of the plant raw-materials bound in the material should not be wasted on compos-ting. A further interesting approach is an edible packaging produced by a technology called Wiki- Cell, which has been developed by James Edward, a professor at the Harvard University. It consists of polymer and food particles that are bio-degradable. This mixture is produced by means of a special electrostatic procedure, mimicking the packaging principle of fruits, which protect their content with a soft inner and firm outer skin. Hygiene is ensured by an compostable foil, which can be peeled off like the skin of a banana. It‘s also possible to simply wash the product called WikiPearlTM. Prof. Braungart of the Umweltinstitut in Ham-burg also proposes new approaches to tackle the increasing waste problem. His newly developed foil for frozen products could be a trend-setter in the meat industry. This type of foil dissolves into water after thawing, which means that this packaging material doesn‘t cause any environmen-tal problems. Prof. Dr. habil. Heinz Sielaff and Dr. sc. Heinz Schleusener F Fotos: ©industrieblick – Fotolia.com/ privat 12 2013 PACKAGING VERPACKEN
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