DS Smith Slovenia is working in partnership with Panvita Group, the largest Slovenian chain of food processing companies in the region, to reduce plastic across its Ave meat product line by more than 1.6 million pieces of packaging a year.
The DS Smith Easy Bowl consists of a corrugated cardboard tray that is laminated with a thin layer of plastic and sealed using flexible materials. The packaging solution is designed to replace up to 85% of plastic with lightweight cardboard from renewable raw materials, and the tray is made from recycled paper and is itself recyclable.
The external corrugated tray and inner protective film are ideal for keeping meat, fish, and prepared meals fresh with barrier resilience while simultaneously enhancing food safety and shelf life. Simultaneously, the light and rigid structure of the design means that the amount of plastic used in the packaging and materials can be easily separated for recycling.
The Ave meat branded products are the first Panvita products to use the solution and can already be seen on store shelves and advertising billboards in Slovenia, and the DS Smith Easy Bowl has been developed in partnership with MULTIVAC, a packaging line company with thermoforming machines and tray sealers.
The DS Smith Easy Bowl innovation is the result of a two-year development process, and the solution addresses an increasing consumer awareness around the importance of reducing problem plastics in packaging, with a preference for replacing them with sustainable solutions.
