Read on
With a wood fiber-based packaging for ready meals, the Finnish-British company Huhtamaki Lurgan has won the innovation award “Bio-based Material of the Year 2020”.
Editorial office / Dollingstown

Launched under the brand Fresh, the product was developed in collaboration between Huhtamaki, Saladworks (UK) and Södra (Sweden) and funded by BBI JU under the Horizon 2020 project of the same name, which will be completed by the end of July 2020.

Fresh offers the same functionality as the well-known black plastic meal trays, but is fully biodegradable, easier to recycle and certified for home composting. The tray is food-safe, both oven-proof and microwavable, maintains rigid when heated and is cooler to touch. In addition, the trays look attractive and feels natural. Trays are produced in Northern Ireland by Huhtamaki Lurgan using bespoke machines. Natural fibers sourced FSC certified Nordic forests are used as raw material.

The second place in the innovation competition goes to a self-adhesive tape from monta Klebebandwerk (Germany), which consists of 90% renewable raw materials. Third place goes to a functional barrier coating from Fraunhofer ISC (Germany), which is a paper-based and compostable functional barrier coating for food packaging, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.

The winners were announced last week at the nova Institute’s online event “13th International Conference on Bio-based Materials”.

Image: Huhtamäki Oyj