Three product designers from Milan came up with a novel idea for packing street food. Simone Caronni, Pietro Gaeli and Paolo Stefano Gentile observed that this type of packaging generally has a short time of use, and immediately after the food is consumed, becomes hard to recycle waste.
In order to find a more sustainable alternative to this, they came up with the idea of Peel Saver, a packaging made from potato peels - and nothing else!
Peel Saver was created following a process of material experimentation. The original idea was to combine the peel with another material, but then the designers realised that the peels themselves could guarantee a consistency of sufficient solidity.
"We conducted several experiments, using different methods of maceration and drying, in order to obtain the right texture. We are satisfied with the process especially from the point of view of simplicity of concept, and the sustainability it offers. This project is proof of how much can still be done in this project direction," Simone Caronni tells Packaging Europe.
After softening and drying potato peels, the material can bond and harden into the desired cone shape, ideal for chips. The resulting material is 100% biodegradable. After use, the packaging can become animal food or fertilizer for crops, including, of course, potatoes.
"With this new packaging, chips are served inside the same peel that originally contained and protected the potato, returning to the ideal and natural state that it was in before. Peel Saver shows a different point of view, a return to simplicity and to what nature already designed for us. We were inspired by nature."
At the moment, Peel Saver is a concept design, but the designers are confident that with investment, the product can be produced at a large scale.
"We would like to continue the project and would be happy to find an interested company to help us make it a reality."
