Insights

Recently, 4,000 consumers shared their views on food packaging materials, food shopping and food waste with us. Now we reached out to experts and stakeholders in the food packaging value chain in Finland and asked for their opinion. Here’s how a package designer, a grocery store keeper, a plastic activist, and a CEO of a recycling company view some of the key findings from the survey.

Because people tend to associate “bio” with sustainable, municipal operators may think that biological phosphorus removal must be more environmentally friendly than the chemical alternative. Studying the facts reveals a slightly different story.

Wichita’s Lower Arkansas Water Reclamation Facility (LAWRF) is the largest wastewater plant in the state of Kansas, treating the wastewater of the surrounding population and using the resultant dewatered sludge to help the local crops to grow. When a problem with struvite scale build-up was causing low throughput and increased downtime, the company turned to Kemira to identify the cause of the issue and see where performance improvements could be made.

Outi Grönfors, Principal Scientist at Kemira, discusses her work and how chemicals can help keep microplastics out of our water.

As you would expect, any packaging material that comes into contact with your food has to comply with much stricter hygiene regulations than the box your new shoes come in. The chemicals used to give food packaging its strength and stop it from leaking should stay in the packaging and not migrate into your food. But how do we help packaging manufactures ensure their products are safe?

What could be better on a hot summer’s day than cooling down with a cone or tub of your favorite ice cream? But when picking the package out of the store freezer, have you ever thought about the invisible chemical magic that makes sure your tasty treat stays safe to eat, in one piece, and looking irresistible?