Coffee Packaging: In Search of Sustainability

by

By Dan Shryock

Consumers know what they want. Climate change and the threats it poses on planet Earth are moving more and more people to look at what they buy and how their preferred products are packaged.

Coffee bag and degassing valve producers, like others in the broader packaging industry, see the trend and are making moves to deliver sustainable products for their roasting customers and, most importantly, for consumer demand.

An Accenture survey released in early June indicated more than half of consumers worldwide would pay more for sustainable products that are designed to be recycled or reused. The research, which queried 6,000 consumers in 11 countries across Asia, Europe and North America, showed that while people are most concerned about quality and price, 83% say it’s important that products are designed to be recycled. Nearly three out of four respondents said they are now buying more environmentally friendly products than they were five years ago.

Not surprisingly, 77% of respondents perceived plastics to be the least environmentally friendly packaging.

Consumer sentiment is not lost on coffee companies looking to package their whole and ground beans in the most appealing way possible. That’s when they turn to packaging companies for innovative solutions.

“We are seeing more inquiries for sustainable packaging materials,” says TC Transcontinental Packaging’s Rebecca Casey. “(The company) is committed to developing eco-responsible packaging solutions to support our customers’ own sustainability journey.

“We believe that sustainability is a shared responsibility,” she says. “With a focus on innovation, research and product development, we support our customers in their efforts towards solving the challenge that plastic never becomes waste.”

Recyclable Packaging

TC Transcontinental Packaging, operating from Chicago, Illinois with its head office in Montréal, Canada, is a leader in flexible packaging across North America. It has created a custom multilayer, EVOH barrier film for stand-up pouches that is fully recyclable.

EVOH – Ethylene vinyl alcohol – is a durable copolymer primarily made of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen that provides a significantly stronger gas barrier than standard low-density polyethylene film. Even a thin layer of EVOH film substantially improves product freshness.

“We create sustainable packaging solutions that highlight our customers brands, keep their product fresh and meet consumers demand and values at the same time,” Casey says.

To that end, TC Transcontinental Packaging continues to develop sustainable packaging solutions. “We currently offer films that are compostable in industrial compost settings and we are nearing commercialization of a compostable solution suitable for degradation in a home compost. We are also developing our next generation of store drop-off recyclable films for high-speed filling efficiencies and high barrier for product protection.”

Freshness In, Gas Out

While manufacturers such as TC Transcontinental Packaging are striving to keep freshness in, other companies find ways to let the gas out. Roasted coffee releases carbon dioxide (CO2) which when confined inside a sealed container builds up. This leads to bloated bags and the potential for bag explosions. Companies such as Wipf AG and Plitek are creating degassing systems that let the CO2 escape from the bag and keep outside air from entering and damaging the coffee.

Wipf, based in Switzerland, develops degassing valves as well as flexible packaging like lidding for single-serve capsules for the coffee and tea market. Wipf first introduced the Wicovalve degassing valve in 1976 and remains the primary provider for the European market, according to Malte Jonsson, the company’s vice president of sales and marketing.

And, like other manufacturers, Wipf is hearing the same request. “There was some demand from the coffee market for compostable laminates,” Jonsson said. Research began and the company introduced its first compostable valve in 2014, a prototype of the company’s fully certified biocompostable WICOVALVE® what would become commercially available two years later.

“It’s a long journey, a long learning curve,” Jonsson says. “We’ve had a very positive response but there’s a cost difference.”

The materials required to produce a compostable valve make the product more than twice as expensive as the regular, non-composable unit. Coffee roasters with niche products are ready to make the additional investment on limited volume but it will take more time to develop a more affordable valve and attract wider demand.

“Demand has lately been increasing for recyclable packaging rather than compostable,” he says. “On the valve side, we can already propose solutions and some recyclable bag materials are available in the market at comparable pricing as non-recyclable standard specs. Other customers continue to focus on compostable specs. Things change very quickly.”

Research & Development Underway

With over 25 years of experience in the coffee industry, Plitek is looking in the same direction. The US-based company produces its PLI-VALV® package degassing systems including one-way degassing valves and the application machinery to externally apply them to packaging material. And while PLI-VALV® system has been successful for many years, marketing manager Alma Likic says the company is continually looking to the future and working on providing high quality, sustainable, and cost-effective innovations.

The company’s most recent innovations include a filtered valve, mini valve, oil-free valve and pre-oiled degassing valve.

“(Plitek) has always been striving to enhance the product and look for the next better option that can serve the market,” Likic says. The company’s “mini valve,” for example, is designed for fractional-sized coffee bags. “Some companies were using a regular size valve (on smaller bags) and some were not using anything at all. With increased consumer demand for higher quality coffee, this is no longer an option. Now roasters understand having the one-way degassing valve on their packaging is imperative to their packaging process.”

Plitek’s PLI-VALV® products use less material than button valves making it more environmentally friendly. Going another step further, Plitek has its eye on the release of a recyclable valve.

“Speaking with our customers, we know there is interest in sustainability as many companies have made commitments to improve upon their environmental impact. This is the next generation product for sure,” Likic says.

Plitek created a recyclable valve “a couple years ago and a few companies were interested,” she says. The price point, however, was not economically feasible. “Now we’re working with different materials to develop a product which will provide a cost-effective solution to the market. We have a team of engineers that are diligently working on this development.”

Plitek could not reveal a release date, saying “it’s in the development testing stage and we need to make sure the product is functioning and undergoes rounds of various testing.” Once it’s ready, existing Plitek customers will be the first to see it.

Eventually, all packaging material will be recyclable or compostable, Likic says. “I am personally sustainability-oriented and I am happy that it’s going this way.”

Rebecca Casey at TC Transcontinental Packaging agrees. Sustainability, she says, will drive the flexible packaging industry for years to come.

“Consumers are becoming more aware of end-of-life scenarios for packaging materials and they want to be part of the solution for a greener environment,” she says. “Consumers want to feel good about the products they buy and the effects their actions have on the environment.”

CORRECTION: Dr. Lugi Goglio first patented the one-way coffee degassing valve in 1968. Fres-co System USA, Inc. founded in 1978, is a subsidiary of Goglio  S.p.A. Fres-co is the largest supplier of one-way degassing valves to North America. STiR incorrectly stated that Wipf AG invented the first coffee degassing valve.