Vietnam is piloting a project to produce environmentally friendly high-quality dry food packaging to reduce dependence on imported products.
Paying attention to environmental factors
Dr. Cao Van Son, Deputy Director of the Research Institute of Pulp and Paper Industry assigned by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) to lead the project, noted the growing interest of Vietnamese consumers in food safety. One of the products that draws consumers’ greatest attention nowadays is food packaging, especially food packaging paper, Son explained.
Food packaging paper has many advantages, such as light weight, heat resistance, low cost, and suitability to many food products. In particular, the product is recyclable or self-degradable. However, the physical properties of packaging paper degrade quickly in a humid environment unless they are manufactured by special processes coating them with an extra layer of paraffin, polyethylene (PE) or aluminum film. However, such processes can reduce the packaging’s heat resistance, increase its cost and hamper recycling, making the product suitable mainly for aseptic packaging production lines.
Vietnam’s project aims to create environmentally friendly production for the domestic market and reduce dependence on imported products, Son said.
Building consumer trust
So far the project has researched and perfected the technological process of producing high-quality packaging paper for direct packaging of dry food (for two product lines: white paper and brown paper) in the laboratory and on a production line with a capacity of 500 tonnes a year.
The project has also successfully conducted trial production of 300,569 kg of dry food packaging products with stable quality, and sold over 99 percent of the total production output.
“Although this is a new kind of product, the quality has gradually met the requirements and trust of domestic customers. This is the basis for businesses to invest in this product line to enhance competitiveness and replace some of the current imports,” Dr. Cao Van Son said.
Other advantages of the technological process include its low environmental impact and noise level. “In the coming time, we will continue to further complete the technology, maintain close inspection to ensure product quality, reduce product prices, build and promote our own brand, and search for target markets,” Dr. Son said.
The new food packaging paper not only ensures physical and chemical durability, but also food safety, protection of nutrients, and antibacterial properties. |
Quynh Nga
http://ven.vn/domestic-food-packaging-paper-proves-competitive-with-imports-44652.html