Compostable sandwich packaging reduces single use plastic
UHP are now stocking locally sourced sandwiches with compostable packaging, a greener choice for our patients!
The sandwich packaging is a 100% compostable and biodegradable carton board range known as Evanescent™ produced by Prestige Packaging. Prestige Packaging is a local family business based on the border between Devon and Cornwall. They only buy from sustainable sources, their print process is chemical free with vegetable-based inks and they recycle all of their waste with minimal impact to the environment.
Nearly all conventional packaging materials are made from oil, a finite resource. The predominant barrier packaging used today is paperboard lined with a range of polymer coatings, chiefly polyethylene (PE). But, now, more than ever, with increasing legislation and customer demand, packaging producers are looking for polymer free, renewable barrier boards that still maintain the essential characteristics that make it ideal for transportation and storage, for freshness and enhanced shelf life. Although paper is sustainable, when combined with polymers it becomes a real problem to recycle- impacting producers and brand owners both environmentally and commercially. If recycling is attempted, these lined materials require more resources, more energy, and dedicated facilities employed to attempt to separate paper from polymer, and from a compost-ability viewpoint the situation is no better - the paperboard takes an age to biodegrade (between 500 and 1000 years).
Since we started stocking sandwiches packaged with Evanescent™ UHP have been part of the solution to this dilemma. Made from plants that re-grow, Evanescent™ uses renewable resources such as sugar cane and corn which makes it 100% compostable and biodegradable. EN 13432 standard or tested by WRAP, Evanescent packaging is independently certified for composting; within 12 weeks of being collected with food waste, it will biodegrade into compost ready to be used on soil to grow more plants in a closed loop model. The material has a low carbon footprint thanks to its carbon-absorbing plant beginnings, meaning it's carbon-neutral even if incinerated.
Evanescent™ answers so many requirements: It is freezable, microwaveable, oven-safe, heatsealable and suitable for an endless array of food and other related packaging applications. It repels grease, odour and moisture, and dependant on pack construction, can offer extended freshness if sealed appropriately. Once UHP begins collecting our food waste separately, the sandwich packaging will be processed in these waste stream which will remove it from the incinerator.
The fresh sandwiches themselves are locally sourced, and the product range is standardised across the Devon ICS- standardisation often cuts costs and carbon as processes are streamlined.
Projects like these help us to slash carbon emissions. For more information, contact the Sustainability team: plh-tr.sustainability@nhs.net
