BASF and StePac create fresh produce plastic wrap to lengthen shelf life for food waste reduction

BASF and StePac are partnering to develop environmentally sustainable packaging to extend the shelf life of fresh produce. BASF is supplying StePac with its Ultramid Ccycled, a chemically recycled polyamide six, while StePac brings its MAP technology with built-in humidity control that delays food’s aging process

The EU reports that approximately a third of all food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted. This results from many different facets of the industry, but food packaging is one of them.

Food packaging that increases food longevity within the package greatly benefits reducing waste. If consumers feel more certain about their produce lasting longer within the package, they are less likely to dispose of it, leading to lesser food waste.

“Plastic packaging should only be used when it has a functional role, should be kept as lean as possible and should ideally support a circular economy by either being mechanically or chemically recycled,” Gary Ward, Business Development Manager of StePac, tells PackagingInsights.

Polyamide six plastic

The plastic wrap has been designed for fresh produce. StePac already uses chemically recycled plastics for packaging fresh perishables, but BASF’s polyamide provides StePac with plastic that has greater flexibility to advance contact-sensitive packaging formats to a higher environmental standard.

A mockup design of BASF and StePac’s new Xgo Circular over Jardin Exotics’ passion fruits.

Polyamide six is an engineered plastic material known for its strength and anti-wear properties. The polyamide is chemically resistant to oils, gasoline, alcohol, weak acids and concentrated alkalis. Some of its primary functions include resistance and strength at high and low temperatures, flow for forming all kinds of parts by injection molding and abrasion resistance.

StePac received a REDcert certification to incorporate chemically recycled polyamide six into its flexible, modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) products.

A challenge the teams faced when creating the plastic wrapping was “testing and approving that [they] could incorporate the recycled resin and retain the same packaging performance,” says Ward. “The accreditation process was also very demanding.”

From the design process, StePac created two brands Xgo and Xtend, based on MAP technology. The plastic products have built-in humidity control, which effectively slows respiration inside the packaging, delays the aging processes, inhibits microbial decay and preserves the quality and nutritional value of the produce during prolonged storage and long-haul shipments.

“As far as we are aware, this is the first flexible packaging product that contains chemically recycled content to be used in the fresh produce sector. We are very proud of this,” continues Ward.

Environmental benefits

Ward states that “these upgraded packaging formats will continue to maintain their role of significantly reducing food waste, a most important task considering that global food waste is responsible for about 8% of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions.”

According to the EU, about 88 million metric tons of food are wasted annually across Europe, costing €143 billion (US$151.7 billion). This results in around a third of all food wasted globally, states the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

Creating packaging for food that lengthens the time before spoiling would also lead to less over-consumption, as consumers currently buy more food due to it spoiling quickly.

“This alliance will help strike a balance between creating plastic packaging that is as eco-friendly as possible to keep fresh produce longer through more prudent use of lean plastic films,” Ward adds.

BASF ChemCycling

StePac’s plastic wrap previous invention, Xflow, over cherries to keep them fresh.

BASF has been working on a chemical recycling project in order to create designs such as the new produce wrap called ChemCycling. The company is working with partners to further develop the pyrolysis technology, which turns plastic waste into a secondary raw material called pyrolysis oil.

“In a thermochemical process, our partners obtain recycled feedstock from these end-of-life plastics, which is then fed into the BASF Verbund. Using a mass balance approach, the raw material can be attributed to specific products, such as Ultramid Ccycled,” explains Dr. Dominik Winter, vice president of BASF’s European polyamides business.

The oil is fed into BASF’s production at the beginning of the value chain, thereby saving fossil resources and yielding food-grade recycled plastic. Chemical recycling primarily involves plastic waste that would have been used for energy recovery or landfilled, states the company.

BASF’s chemical recycling process “helps to replace fossil raw materials and is an important step toward circularity. As chemically recycled plastics have the same quality and safety as virgin material, the scope of plastics that can be recycled for fresh produce packaging is widened,” concludes Winter.

Passion fruit partnership

Colombian passion fruit exporters Jardin Exotics will be the first to use the new packaging brand Xgo Circular. The product will be supplied as a film for horizontal form fill-and-seal.

The packaging’s MAP properties will slow the ripening process and preserve the quality of the fruit during shipment from Colombia to Europe.

For passion fruit, the combination of the produce specific modified atmosphere properties of the film and its high-water vapor transmission rate makes this film unique in its performance. The company will also be packing the fruits at-source in the final retail packaging format, eliminating the need for repacking after arrival.