Improving packaging is a long-term job

Coffee needs packaging which will protect it from oxygen, moisture and light, retaining flavours and aromas and withstanding transport intact from the roastery all the way to the final users.

Pakkausten kehittäminen on pitkäjänteistä työtä

We at Paulig constantly seek new, environmentally friendly alternatives for packaging coffee. There are two ways to do this: reducing the quantity of current packaging materials, or developing and adopting totally new materials that are more environmentally friendly. Packaging accounts for roughly 5% of the environmental impacts of coffee products. This calculation does not figure in the environmental impacts of the cultivation of coffee, brewing the beverage, or disposal of packagings.

Packaging product development demands time and patience because every new packaging innovation can only reach the deployment stage at the earliest a year later. In order to attain environmental friendliness, making packagings thinner or adopting new materials must not cause deterioration in the quality of the coffee or jeopardise the technological standards of the packagings. All new packagings are subjected to testing, for example for several months’ storability, to ensure that the flawless quality of the coffee is maintained.

Laminate packagings are classified as mixed waste at the moment because they contain a small amount of aluminium for oxygen barrier to help preserve the coffee. By making the packaging laminate thinner, we have successfully reduced the annual quantity of household waste ending in landfills. In 2012, Paulig continued the development of the packaging for its biggest product, Juhla Mokka blend. Thanks to thinner packaging laminate, consumption of this material was reduced by 30,000 kilos on the previous year. As a result of the reduced quantity of material, carbon dioxide emissions in the packaging production process were cut by some 110 tonnes. Development work continues in 2012, with the goal of reducing consumption of packaging laminate by roughly 50,000 kilos and carbon dioxide emissions by 100,000 kilos.

 

Back to top