Ceepackaging

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Can is claimed to go on

Original and best

The original concept of preserving food in tin cans was revolutionary. In 1810, for the first time it provided a means to protect food and preserve its nutrients in an unbreakable pack. Today steel packaging is even more relevant, providing a secure, dependable, convenient and environmentally-sound solution sought by brand-owners, retailers and consumers.

The safe and reliable choice

Brand owners choose steel packaging for its proven functionality in providing food products with a 100% guaranteed barrier against light, water and air. It has a three year shelf-life which ensures the most consistent product quality: the humble three-piece food can’s performance against alternative formats consistently proves it is the undisputed benchmark for heat processed food. “Metal packaging has always been a good choice for me in terms of quality, efficiency and reliability. Metal cans offer high line speeds, low failure rates and generally they represent a value for money proposition. The metal can has always been the benchmark for me on these aspects when other packaging concepts were under evaluation.” says Theo Dopheide, Technical & Implementation Manager, Unilever.

Steel’s unbreakable packaging and long shelf-life also make it particularly efficient for retailers to store and display. Perhaps even more importantly, without the need for costly and energy inefficient refrigeration, steel for packaging provides an environmental, not to mention economic, advantage. According to a recent study in the UK, the high levels of energy used by refrigeration in supermarkets can have an extremely negative environmental impact.

At the same time, today’s increasingly penny-wise, environmentally conscious consumer is demanding food packaging which guarantees safety and preserves taste and nutrients while avoiding waste. The steel can’s robust and convenient portion-sized formats ensure that steel packaging is easy to use with the minimum packaging that is needed to deliver the product quality consumers expect. Correspondingly, many consumers are choosing a wide range of canned goods beyond the “store-cupboard
staples”.

Most recycled

Unlike other packaging materials, steel did not need to undergo a 21st century “green revolution” to start recycling. Steel’s intrinsic properties set it apart from other packaging materials: it is, and always has been, infinitely recyclable to 100% virgin quality. Steel is unique in that it is magnetic, which means it is easy and economical to sort and recover – no other packaging material has this advantage. Add to this the fact that using recycled steel is an integral part of the steel-making process. It comes as no surprise that steel is the most recycled packaging material in Europe, setting the benchmark for energy conservation and reduced emissions. The industry itself remains committed to its continuous improvement. Today, its highly efficient production processes focus on waste minimisation which has led to considerable gains from an environmental perspective.

Steel for the future

Steel’s evolution is a result of its technical development over the years. Today, no other packaging material provides such a wide variety of products to consumers: two-piece cans; aerosols; beverage cans with widgets; easy open ends are just some of the convenience developments that are now mainstream. Developments in steel grades have not only ensured an even more sustainable material, but one that offers brands significant opportunities for differentiation, allowing, for example, the development of uniquely profiled shapes. Other recent advancements include the microwave-ready tray which can be used to heat food in modern microwaves, and delivers a better quality convenience meal with superior performance results to traditional microwaveable packaging.

And these are just the visible changes! Steel manufacturers today focus on producing steel for packaging using fewer resources than ever before: emissions from the production process are 50% lower than 40 years ago, and today steel packaging is much lighter: the steel beverage can is an incredible 40% lighter than 30 years ago.

Steel continues to prove that its inherently unique properties, combined with a continuous industry drive for improvement provides benefits for packaging such as safety, reliability and sustainability which enables steel for packaging to help protect today and preserve tomorrow.