Whether you follow every twist and turn of the political Brexit drama, or you are simply sick of the whole process, the chances are that you won’t have heard a whole lot about how Brexit will potentially affect industrial packaging. This is understandable given the enormous scope of areas that will be impacted, particularly in the event of a no-deal Brexit; however packaging is a vital element of international trade and the consequences on this often overlooked sector should not be underestimated.

Take for example wooden pallets and packaging, which are used in the transport of around 85% of all goods worldwide. If the UK leaves the EU without a deal it would be classified as a third country; and this would bring significant changes with regards to the circulation of wooden pallets and packaging.

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According to the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, in the event of no deal, all WPM (wood packaging material) moving between the UK and the EU must meet ISPM15 international standards by undergoing heat treatment and marking. ISPM15 reduces the risk of introducing and spreading quarantine pests. WPM entering the EU from third countries is subject to official checks on a risk-targeted basis. Currently, as the plant health risk is negligible, no WPM moving between the UK and EU Member States needs to meet the requirements of ISPM15 (except movement of WPM from Portugal and certain parts of Spain).

However, as FEFPEB, the European Federation of Wooden Pallet and Packaging Manufacturers asserts, if the UK does leave the EU without a deal, it will not change the plant health risk between the EU and UK. Therefore FEFPEB strongly advocates maintaining the current situation with no ISPM 15 requirements for flows between EU and UK. This would be the best solution for WPM and logistics in general if the EU (and the UK) are willing to approach this issue from the phytosanitary perspective, says the federation. If it is decided that WPM moving between EU and UK must be ISPM 15 compliant after Brexit, the FEFPEB is calling for a pragmatic implementation and controlling policy in order to allow an orderly transition period and thereby avoid a disastrous disruption of trade post-Brexit.

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For cosmetic products, a hard Brexit would require all future packaging to state the manufacturer’s address in the country in which the product is offered.

In addition, in future a list of information on the cosmetic agent must be transferred to the European Commission via the Cosmetic Product Notification Portal (CPNP) for all British cosmetics products.

For daily care products that are delivered throughout Europe and are registered in the CPNP prior to the exit date, the procedure is a bit simpler: Within 90 days, manufacturers in the United Kingdom have to submit the following information:

• Product category and name
• Name of the responsible body
• Storage location of product information
• Contact details for a natural person in case of queries
• Product framework wording

For cosmetics that are offered on the British market after Brexit, the distributing company must first transmit all necessary product information via the Secretary of State’s database. The product information file must also be printed in the national language of the respective member state.

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In the pharma sector, currently, new drugs are approved in the EU by a mutual recognition procedure (MRP) whereby a single EU country assesses the product and awards a marketing authorisation, which then holds for all EU countries. In the event of a no-deal Brexit, the UK has said that it will automatically grant UK marketing authorisation to drugs that already have a centralised EU approval after Brexit occurs. However, this UK license will require a new marketing authorisation number that must be placed on the outside of the drug packaging. The same rule applies to products that are currently being sold in the EU after being originally approved in the UK; they will require a new marketing authorisation number to continue to be sold in the EU.

Over in the food packaging sector, as soon as the UK leaves the European Union, labels on packaging must indicate the manufacturer’s addresses in the countries in which the goods are sold. If products that are manufactured in the EU are sold in the United Kingdom, the label must also indicate the manufacturer’s address in the UK. In turn every company that is based in Great Britain and sells products in the EU must have a EU address and indicate this on the label.

The Economic Operators’ Registration and Identification number is a European customs number that identifies economic agents in the movement of goods. Thanks to automation, this number can help alleviate customs clearances within the EU. However, if British companies already have EORI numbers, these will expire once Britain leaves the EU. Companies must then re-apply.

Blue Planet effect

While the issues associated with Brexit are undoubtedly important, they pale into insignificance when the other major challenge facing the packaging sector is considered. When the final episode of the BBC’s 2017 when Blue Planet II aired it was a huge wake up call, with viewers shocked by images of the devastation being caused by plastic in the world’s oceans. As a result of the powerful programme, in what is still referred to as the ‘Blue Planet effect’, there has been an enormous groundswell of public support for initiatives aimed at reducing the amount of plastic packaging used across all sectors.

One such project is The UK Plastics Pact, a collaborative initiative that has been set up with the aim of creating a circular economy for plastics. Formed just over a year ago, and spearheaded by WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme) it brings together businesses from across the entire plastics value chain with UK governments and NGOs to tackle the scourge of plastic waste.

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The UK Plastics Pact has set four ambitious targets to achieve by 2025, and members have reported progress against each one, demonstrating how collaboration across the entire plastics supply chain can deliver real change. Some examples against each target include:

1. Eliminate problematic or unnecessary single-use plastic packaging through redesign, innovation or alternative (re-use) delivery models.

M&S has replaced plastic cutlery with alternatives made from FSC certified wood and swapped plastic straws for paper versions. Waitrose has committed to stop selling plastic cutlery by the end of this year. Most retailers have removed plastic straws from sale and in cafes – Morrisons estimates that this removes approximately 30 tonnes of plastic and 65m straws per year

2. 100% of plastic packaging to be reusable, recyclable or compostable.

Members have reported widespread progress on removing unrecyclable black plastic from their packaging. For example, M&S phased out 1700 tonnes of black plastic packaging, Lidl has removed all black plastic packaging from primary fruit and vegetable packaging, and Ocado has removed it from 83 product lines, representing 90% of Ocado Own Brand lines that had black plastic. Brakes has removed 80% of black plastic (by weight) from its products. Other members, including Unilever, are working in collaboration with waste management companies to introduce a new type of black pigment for its personal care bottles that can be detected by infra-red scanners and therefore recycled.

3. 70% of plastic packaging effectively recycled or composted

Members have reported significantly enhanced communications to citizens about what can be recycled across the board. All retailer members and a large number of brands are signed up to the On Pack Recycling Labelling scheme to provide clear messaging on what can or cannot be recycled.

PepsiCo (Walkers Crisps) launched the UK’s first nationwide crisp packet recycling scheme – it’s free, accepts any crisp packet brand and has already collected 2.4million packets

4. 30% average recycled content across all plastic packaging

Danone has reported that all evian 75cl, 1L and 1.5L bottles produced for the UK market now contain 50% recycled content, while innocent has achieved a minimum of 30% recycled content in their bottles, with their smoothie bottles now containing 50%.

Removing unrecyclable plastics will be a key focus for members over the coming year. While the Pact targets run until 2025, WRAP is challenging members to act urgently. As far as possible, by the end of this year, they should remove polystyrene and PVC from food packaging and by the end of 2020 they should be eradicated from non-food products. These plastics are not recycled and in the case of PVC it also contaminates plastic recycling. Also by the end of 2019 members are being requested to only use plastic that can be sorted effectively in the recycling process, such as adopting ‘detectable black’ pigments.

Sustainable MAP packaging

At the IFFA international trade fair for the meat industry this May GEA presented a new combined solution for sustainable food packaging. Developed by GEA with partner companies, FoodTray is an ecological carton/film composite solution, which is assembled on a GEA thermoforming packaging machine. The two components can be easily separated later by the consumer in a single motion.

The FoodTray system consists of corrugated cardboard carton with film on the inside, combining the advantages of both cardboard and plastic. "We’ve reduced film content by up to 70 percent," explains says Hans-Günter Donges, who is responsible for overarching developments in process technology at GEA. "At FoodTray, fossil-based raw materials are replaced with fibres from renewable raw materials; the recycled content is more than 80 percent. At the same time, we make no compromises in terms of stability. Likewise, the cardboard and film can be easily separated and recycled by the consumer."

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The film is thermoformed and sealed directly to the inside of the corrugated cardboard box. After this, the customer-specific packaging process can take place. "The investment costs are low and the result is ecologically sustainable packaging," summarises Donges. MAP packaging heights range from 20 to 60mm and skin versions up to 20 mm, with corrugated cardboard used on the outer box.

Eco-friendly biomaterial

For US entrepreneurs Eben Bayer and Gavin McIntyre, the plastics crisis presented a challenge to create a sustainable, high-performance and economically viable packaging alternative. Having seen how mushroom mycelia binds organic waste in nature, they invented a new class of degradable biomaterial that can be moulded into almost any shape.

The invention has its origins in Bayer’s childhood on his family’s farm in Vermont, where he noticed that fungi had glued together piles of wood chips. They realised that the strand-like root structures of fungi found under the soil, called mycelia, are capable of binding together with waste, such as corn husks, rice or hemp. Bayer and McIntyre took this idea and produced a material made from mycelium. The mycelium is fed agricultural waste at room temperature and harvested every four to six days. The result is a non-toxic substance that can be moulded into any shape required. It is then dried and baked to solidify it, preventing the growth of mushrooms.

The biomaterial has many advantages over traditional counterparts. It is strong, delivering a strength-to-weight ratio comparable to many plastic-based products, and fully degradable in 45 to 180 days. Toxicity studies even show that the material can enrich the soil. All of the energy for growth is contained within the waste matter, meaning that there is no need for accelerated heating. The manufacturing process therefore requires between one-fifth and one-eighth of the energy used for foamed plastics. Production is also entirely sustainable, using local supply chains and sourcing raw materials from within a 100km radius of processing facilities.