ILIP; partner for the sustainable fruit an vegetables chain

Once again this year ILIP is ready to meet with fruit and vegetable industry operators at Fruit Attraction (Madrid, 3-5 October 2023), stand B21 – hall 9.

ILIP is the ideal partner for all fruit and vegetable companies seeking to make their products more sustainable and to improve their shelf life. The R-PET used by ILIP in its packaging is, in fact, completely traceable and the result of a virtuous T2T R-PET® (T2T=tray to tray) process that allows not only for the post-consumption recycling of bottles but also for trays to produce new trays for food, thus closing in this way the tray-to-tray circle.

The ILPA Group of which ILIP is a member, has an annual recycling capacity of 60 thousand tonnes of post-consumption bottles and containers for food, of which 20 thousand tonnes go to the T2T process. The ILPA Group companies, in fact, cover the whole of the recycling and conversion process involving PET and R-PET obtained from household waste bottles and trays, from which the secondary raw material is created, which ILIP then uses for its punnets and trays. The whole control of the R-PET value chain allows the company to guarantee the origin of the polymer used, as envisaged by legislation in force, and represents an example of implementation of the circular economy (closed loop) model driven by the European Union with a view to reducing the quantity of waste produced.

In addition to its growing use of secondary raw materials, ILIP is also firmly committed to improving the environmental profile of its packaging, reducing its weight and accordingly the quantity of raw material used, as well as introducing new renewable materials combined with plastic. Examples include the heat sealable B40 punnets used to package fruit like strawberries, grapes, cherries, drupes, and berries, made from R-PET and, in turn, 100% recyclable, in which the micro-bubble pad has been replaced by a paper one that is recyclable in the dedicated separate waste collection. Or again, the premium fruit solution, the hybrid R-PET and cardboard punnet, which has successfully reduced the use of plastic by 45%.

This downgauging goes hand-in-hand with the Fit4Purpose approach, meaning that the purpose of the packaging, consumer safety, convenience, hygiene and storage time of the food product are entirely unaffected. Indeed, by contrast, precisely in a bid to limit wastage of fruit and vegetables, they have been designed to lengthen the shelf life and protect the contents during transport or logistics. The latest news in this respect include the B40 Air Wave protective punnet in R-PET, 100% recyclable, whose rounded base softens any impacts suffered during transport and at the sales outlets, with no need for the absorbent insert in micro-bubbles or cellulose.

Another example of ILIP’s commitment to sustainability is being able to provide objective environmental data about its products, thanks to the EPD (Environmental product declaration) certification featured on the B40 punnets created using recycled PET and T2T.

The company has also made its production more sustainable by investing in the new automated, oxygen depletion warehouse, completed in 2021. Thanks to the strategic location alongside the production site, ILIP has successfully eliminated travel to third party warehouses, thereby reducing its carbon footprint by around 300,000 kg CO2 emissions a year.

The sustainable approach that has driven ILIP for years, not only in the innovation of its packaging but also in the production process, is a requirement that fruit and vegetable companies are increasingly called to consider in their choice of suppliers, in order to construct their products’ value chain. Thus, the Bologna-based company is confirmed as an ideal partner with which to pursue ESG objectives.

The appointment with the ILIP management team is therefore at the Madrid fair from 3rd to 5th October, at stand B21 in hall 9.