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Packaging Database – Climate Protection Packaging – News

Packaging Database – Climate Protection Packaging – News

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A research project at ETH Zurich with Denner shows for the first time how reasonable packaging can be reduced.

Unloading an entire supermarket – that’s what Katharina Benning and Julia Bachmann of ETH Zurich have wanted for a long time. They’ve found a suitable partner in dinner: old enough to be able to make meaningful statements, and young enough not to lose track of things.

Starting in 2019, the two scientists analyzed every piece of packaging in the order of roughly 3,600 items.

How much packaging, what type of packaging and CO2 footprint can I actually take home?

“What didn’t exist up until that point was a database that could say precisely: When I get out of the supermarket — how much of a package, what kind of package and what is the CO2 footprint of what I’m actually taking home?” says Katharina. Bening, head of the circular economy research group at ETH Zurich.

The approach to wanting to lose weight will be completely wrong.

The ETH researchers focused on carbon dioxide emissions, not the weight of the package. Julia Bachmann, Co-Head of Sustainability and Business Lab at ETH Zurich: “We can have heavy packaging that is good for the environment or good in terms of CO2, but you can easily have light material that may be much worse. That is why the desire approach Losing weight would be completely wrong.”

Useful changes with the database

“With this database, together with sales figures, we can provide more detailed and expert information about where it makes sense to change something,” says Katharina Bening.

On this basis, it can be said where it is worth reducing or substituting materials, finding new solutions for a product or starting recycling options.

The two researchers are currently preparing a report so that others can also benefit from their findings: other retailers or the federal government to make legal adjustments.

The improvements are complex

Diner actually executes the results from the database. To date, Denner has made the most improvements to non-refrigerated foods. But optimizing packaging, says Lisa Zuger, vice president of sustainability at Diner’s, is complex.

A wide range of actors along the value chain are involved: “Can the supplier produce something at all, and if so, at what cost?” The logistical process must also be taken into account: is the product still stackable and strong enough not to be damaged in transit? In the branch, the issue of handling arises: What does the thing look like on the shelf and how quickly can it be set aside?

Saving carbon dioxide: examples of new packaging


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Denner has really changed the packaging of various products:

Dinner Detergent 3 in 1 Ultra Capsules: By converting the former packaging from plastic to carton, twelve tons of carbon dioxide can be saved every year.

Minced Beef IP-Suisse: Switching from a plastic tray to a cardboard tray with a protective film saves 15 tons of carbon dioxide per year.

Bio-Wine Toros Tinto Tempranillo Fino Organico: Denner sells this new wine in a lightweight glass bottle. Annual carbon dioxide reduction: eight tons of carbon dioxide.

Donner Red Fruit Tea: Since the cardboard in which the tea boxes are delivered to the branches is now thinner, half a ton of carbon dioxide can be saved every year.

One of the challenges is customer acceptance of change. Lisa Zuger showcases a Spanish red wine: the wine is sold fresh in a lightweight glass bottle that is thinner and lighter than traditional wine bottles.

“The larger and heavier the bottle, the higher the quality,” says Zuger. “Light glass packaging is relatively weak in customer perception.”

20 percent less packaging

One type of ground beef, for example, is sold new in a cardboard tray with a thin plastic film. This saves 80 percent of CO2 compared to the previous plastic container. But Lisa Zuger says that it costs much more to buy than traditional plastic packaging.

So the change will happen gradually over the next few years. The goal: Denner wants to reduce its packaging by 20 percent by 2025.