A study by the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental Safety and Energy Technology on the calculation of the carbon footprint of various packaging solutions for sausages, clearly points to a reduction in the greenhouse gas emissions with clip closure solutions.

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The latter, when directly compared with injection-moulded cups and thermoformed packaging, result in a substantially greater reduction in emissions.

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In the case of cold cuts, clip closure solutions produce up to 64% less greenhouse gas emissions than injection moulded cups and up to 81% less than thermoformed packaging.

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With the debate around ocean waste and microplastics and the circular economy, environmentally friendly packaging solutions are increasingly in demand.

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In order to establish how environmentally friendly clip closure solutions are, a study was commissioned to investigate and compare a variety of packaging for meat products, including thermoformed packaging and injection moulded cups.

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For determination of the carbon footprint, the ecological evaluation covered everything from extraction of the raw materials (for example petroleum) up to the finished packaging solution, including disposal of the packaging. The packaging solutions were compared using a comparison unit, which for sausage spread packagings consisted of a 150g pack of sausage spread and for cold cut packagings a 150g pack of cold cuts.

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The bases of calculation included the weight and materials of the packaging solutions and the manufacturing procedure involved. Analysis of the materials was performed by means of infrared spectroscopy and the packaging plastics manufacturing processes were simulated using commercial eco-balancing databases.

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For cold cuts, around 0.05Kg CO2 equivalent can be cut using the clip closure solution, and around 0.04Kg CO2 equivalent of the sausage spread when compared with thermoformed packaging.

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The results demonstrate the climate-friendly benefits of clip closure solutions when compared to the alternative solutions mentioned. With fewer processing steps, less waste and also lower costs, the designation ‘minimalist packaging’ is more than appropriate.