CFN Packaging says it has spent £250,000 on overhauling its packaging operations in Skegness, amidst growing demand for its degradable Biothene product that it claims has various food contact applications.

With manufacturers under growing pressure to reduce the environmental impact of their operations, materials that can help reduce to amount of packaging waste reaching landfills are just one of the measures being adopted by the food industry.

Investment

A spokesperson for the company told FoodProductionDaily.com that the investment will allow for the building of an additional floor at one of its production sites, while consolidating another two plants into a single facility, thus ensuring greater cost and product efficiency.

Biothene

The spokesperson said that the company itself has been producing products with Biothene for five years, with a noticeable growth in demand over the period for the product.

Biothene is a degradable form of polythene that is suitably robust enough to be used in a number of food packaging solutions, according to the company.

The material degrades under exposure to UV light or sunlight and over the space of a year breaks down into a non-toxic residue.

The plans to increase Biothene output for its customers come on the back of another £1m investment by the company in two polythene extruders and a recycler, again to improve material use within its own operations.

Packaging waste targets

Research commissioned by the Waste and Resource Action Programme (WRAP) in 2006 found that 86 per cent of UK respondents felt it would be good if packaging contained recycled plastic.

According to the packaging recycling targets set by the European Commission for the 25 EU member states a minimum of 60 per cent of packaging waste must be recovered or incinerated and between 55 and 80 per cent of packaging waste must be recycled by the end of 2008.