From oven to compost: the next generation of fibre-based trays
Walki has several tray options in its offering. The newest addition is a tray suitable for home composting.
Trays are in high demand these days. PPWR is pushing for recyclable solutions, but another driver is consumer preferences. As we go about our busy lives, picking up some ready-made meals from the frozen food aisle in the supermarket makes for less rushed dinners.
Walki is following suit with the rising demand by continuously developing new tray solutions.
The first tray option was made from cartonboard with a thin PET film for extra barrier properties. A plastics-free version was soon developed where the PET film was replaced by speciality paper, giving the surface a nice non-stick feature. Now Walki has several trays in its offering, ranging from trays placed in a folded box, in flow-wrap and boxed, as well as fibre-based trays that replace aluminium-based baking trays. They come both in white and brown versions.
“Our customers requested a natural look and feel but one that still had good release properties and grease resistance, which is why we have different grades in our range,” says Bernd Töbelmann, Sales Barrier Board, Walki.
“Especially the brown version, Walki Pack tray UR Brown, has become quite popular and is used for ready-made meals such as fish menus, lasagna or meatballs in tomato sauce,” adds Stefan Erdmann, Senior Technical Service & Development Manager Barrier Board at Walki.
Suitable for home composting
The trays are heat-resistant and can withstand temperatures up to 220 degrees, making it possible to pop the ready-made meal you bought in the supermarket directly into the oven.
The white version is popular for bakery applications for pre-made cakes, but also for baking at home (you don’t want your chocolate cake to stick to the surface!).
“The trays are pressed into shape as one single piece, which means no gluing or sealing. That opens the possibility to use a release surface, which wouldn’t work with glued constructions. In practice, it makes the trays both more robust and easier to use,” explains Töbelmann.
The latest addition to Walki’s tray family is the Walki Pack Tray U Brown, which has the special feature of being suitable for home composting.
The compostable feature has been verified by an independent actor, Tüv Austria.
“To prove that a material really is home compostable, you have to run a test where you actually leave the packaging for several months in a home compost environment and monitor how it decomposes,” explains Mats Käldström, Manager, Development and Innovations at Walki. He was responsible for the verification process.
While certain materials are compostable in a composting facility, they may not degrade in a home environment where the temperature tends to linger around 20 degrees. The composting process is much faster in a facility where the temperature is between 55 and 70°C.
So the tray was put in a composting environment that resembles that of the home, and different tests were run. It is not just important that the tray degrades; you also need to make sure that no toxins are released during composting.
The tray passed the extensive tests, which means that it is suitable for home composting.
Reducing waste
As with many others of Walki’s solutions, this project was a collaboration. Walki supplies the material for the trays to a third party that produces them.
The end customer supplies food to hospitals, kindergartens and senior homes, where meals are typically ready-made and served on trays. However, the amount of packaging this generates becomes very large, which is why composting on-site is a better option. There is also legislation coming into force regarding home compostability. The Waste Framework Directive requires EU member states to separate bio-waste at source, and home composting is recognised as a valid form.
Erdmann and Töbelmann see uses beyond hospitals and senior homes.
”Packaging that is contaminated by the food is not likely to be recycled in the paper waste stream, as consumers find it bothersome to clean the trays before putting them in the bin. Our home compostable tray solves this problem as you can put the tray in the composting bin without having to clean it”, says Töbelmann.
Home compostability of cardboard and paper packaging significantly reduces waste on several levels: ecologically, practically and systemically.
“You get less residual and packaging waste, and the packaging is returned to natural materials where humus is produced and soil quality improved. At the same time, you avoid using plastic alternatives that are often not recycled, can cause microplastics to form and take up to centuries to degrade”, adds Erdmann.
Looks like trays will continue to be in vogue.