Soft Milk Package Launched in Sweden

09 Apr 2008

The new package is a Swedish development from Ecolean AB in Helsingborg, Sweden. The principal owner of the company is Hans Rausing. Falköpings mejeri is the first dairy in Sweden to fill the new packages with, milk, cultured milk, cream and sour cream.

09/04/08 A package that is easy to open, easy to empty, takes up minimal space in the garbage, and that also has less impact on the environment than most other alternatives on the market, now becomes a reality in Sweden. The Willys chain and a few of the ICA and Coop grocery stores will be the first to introduce this new type of packaging, which partly consists of chalk (calcium carbonate) and air.
The package, which is soft, is excellent for dairy products since it’s easy to squeeze out almost all its content, compared to today’s carton packages where almost 1 deciliter of yoghurt is left inside a 1 liter package.

According to one study by STFI-Packforsk, every year about 74 tons of yoghurt is thrown away in Sweden due to theamount that is left inside the packages. ”New times with new requirements demand new types of packaging. Our minimalist packaging saves raw material, which provides a number of positive effects like energy-saving in manufacturing. The fact that it also can be completely emptied results in minimum food waste,” says Peter L Nilsson, President of Ecolean. Development of the Ecolean packaging started in the mid 1990’s, and has resulted in modern packaging suited for the 2000’s, which is completely in line with the global demand for a resource saving society. Its low impact on the environment is partly due to the fact that the material used has been reduced to a minimum.

It only weighs half as much as other dairy product packages of the same size. Only a small amount of plastic is used in each package and 40% is chalk. The whole package contains less plastic than certain carton packages with a screw cap that thus also contains
cardboard. The handle is filled with air, which stabilizes the soft package and makes it steady even when it’s half empty. When emptied the package is flat as an envelope and takes up minimal space in the waste bin, at home as well as the recycling plant. ”Our package has fast become very popular with consumers in countries like China, Russia and central Europe for example, where it has existed for a couple of years. Children as well as old people can easily open the package by tearing off the opening and it’s easy to pour from,” says Peter L Nilsson.