One.Five is helping Foodie & Friends package its organic spices in recyclable barrier packaging made from agricultural residues – a move set to generate 30% less CO2 than petroleum-based polypropylene films.
Spice packaging has unique requirements in the fast-moving consumer goods sector, as it must protect aroma compounds and essential oils while resisting moisture, oxygen, and light. At the same time, Foodie & Friends sought to reflect the product’s organic nature with a sustainability-minded packaging design.
In response, One.Five has provided its Hazelsun material as a replacement for Foodie & Friends’ previous spice packaging, which was said to be partially unrecyclable.
Hazelsun is made using fibres sourced from agricultural residues, such as leaves and stems. One.Five reportedly uses 100% renewable energy to produce the cellulose.
Apparently, the resultant material is completely recyclable in European paper waste recycling streams. It is CEPI-certified and claims to reduce CO2 by over 30% compared to polypropylene films.
One.Five also upfronts Hazelsun’s technical performance, claiming that the material can be integrated into existing machine environments and help customers balance regulatory requirements with sustainability goals.
“Hazelsun was developed to meet the barrier requirements of sensitive foods with a recyclable paper solution,” says Martin Weber, founder and managing director of One.Five. “The material can be processed on existing industrial packaging lines without modification and enables reliable and tight heat sealing.
“Collaboration with Foodie & Friends has shown that spice packaging can technically be converted to paper without compromising packaging performance or process stability.”
“What’s the point of organic produce if it ends up being wrapped in plastic or in aluminium, both of which involve immense CO2 consumption in production?” adds Dirk Siemenowski, founder and managing director of Foodie & Friends. “That’s exactly the question we asked ourselves, and we found a sustainable solution.
“That’s why we rely on Hazelsun, which is made from agricultural residues from the corn harvest. This results in packaging that is not only recyclable in waste paper, but also particularly environmentally friendly. In this way, not only the product itself remains honest, but also the packaging.”
In a previous collaboration, One.Five worked alongside UPM Adhesive Materials to wrap stationery in transparent paper based on One.Five’s Glassleaf material. This solution is thought to be 80% lighter than cardboard packaging and generate approximately 15-20% fewer emissions than conventional oriented polypropylene packaging with a thickness of 30 µm.
Jung has also adapted One.Five’s paper-based, recyclable Bluemorph barrier material into its confectionery packaging. The move is set to replace hard-to-recycle composite films, generate up to 30% fewer emissions, and ensure compliance with the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive.
Elsewhere in the spice industry, Kotányi is using Sonoco’s 94% paper-based GreenCan to package its vegan-friendly herb and spice blends. The companies hope that this will streamline the pack’s recyclability while aligning with the EU Green Deal’s life-cycle approach to circularity.
If you liked this story, you might also enjoy:
The ‘complex reality’ of reusable packaging in Europe
Single-use packaging versus reusable packaging: Which is more sustainable?
The ultimate guide to global packaging sustainability regulation
No comments yet