A conventional parcel consists of our fruit product, of course, different filling materials so the glass won’t be damaged in the shipping, a smaller box for each product type, and a bigger box to unify all products of one order. To close the boxes, the tape is necessary as well.
When we first started about the packaging, we used different filling materials made of plastic, as well as tape.
It was not easy to find a proper alternative made of recycled paper or cardboard which fulfills the requirements we have to cushion the glass in a proper way. But finally, we discovered the shredder material. Thanks to our new machine we can shred the incoming cardboards and reuse them as filling material. This technology saves not only materials but as well money: We don’t have to buy expensive filling material and reduced the amount of cardboard waste significantly.
For us, this seems the best solution although we know that cardboard still is not a circular material. It is recyclable, but not in an infinite manner.
But as there are so many cardboards incoming at Alpe Pragas we think the reutilization of them instead of directly recycling them is another loop to extend the life cycle of the paper fibers.
POSSIBLE OPTIONS
A VALID ALTERNATIVE
An innovative alternative is maize chips which are completely compostable within a few months, organic, and almost climate neutral. For us, there are two main disadvantages:
1. We must buy extra filling material although we have the raw material for the shredder machine without any cost and transportation ways at Alpe Pragas.
2. The maize chips are made of forage maize. We discuss critically the use of fields to produce packaging material instead of food.
Up to now, we stay with the use of shredder material which results in another advantage for the customer: the disposal is as easy as possible because all packaging materials can be thrown into the paper bin.
