Sandwiched sustainability: Sirane unveils plastic-free compostable skillet

18 Mar 2020 --- Biodegradable and compostable packaging specialist Sirane has developed a plastic-free sandwich skillet as an alternative to the PE-coated packs and laminated boards which currently dominate the market. The sandwich packs, branded as Earthwedge, are created from a combination of coated boards and coated papers. Earthwedge is suitable for heat-sealing as well as in-store assembly and can be supplied fully printed or plain in standard and custom sizes.

“Sandwich packs have been a headline recently,” Simon Balderson, Managing Director at Sirane, told PackagingInsights during the recent Packaging Innovations 2020 show in Birmingham, UK. “They are typically made from carton board and plastic and famously unrecyclable because they are made from two different types of materials. There has been some effort to make it possible to peel the plastic away from the carton board but it hasn’t been very successful.”

“We have created a sandwich pack made entirely from paper and coatings. It has a window and the whole product is compostable and recyclable while the shelf-life of the sandwich is still very good. It is the first on the market,” Balderson explains.

Sirane’s Earth Packaging range now includes many ways to replace plastics effectively in the supply chain. “Many plastics can be replaced, and new materials and technologies are coming on board all the time,” Balderson says.

Sirane is a development company as well as a manufacturer and it is working with many companies to understand the challenges faced in replacing plastics, identify where the opportunities are and find effective solutions.

No need for plastic
Balderson took part in the ‘Big Carbon Debate’ during Packaging Innovations 2020 and was keen to illustrate that plastic is not the enemy to environmental sustainability and that there are “undoubtedly cases where plastic is the correct material to use and will continue to be used.”

Sirane offers an alternative to conventional, unrecyclable sandwich skillets (like the one pictured above) with the compostable Earthwedge.However, there are also many instances where it can be replaced by a more sustainable solution, he affirms. “In the case of sandwich skillets, there’s just no need for them to be plastic.”

“Earthwedge is a great example of somewhere it was possible to remove the plastic entirely whilst allowing the product to still be functional and fit for purpose.”

Olympic acquisition
This month, Sirane completed the acquisition of a UK-based manufacturer of board products and now has “ambitious growth plans for the new site.” Olympic is a manufacturer of board products, supplying the bakery, fish and cake industries among others. Key products include salmon boards, cake boards, U-cards, sleeves and sandwich boards. Olympic supplies throughout the UK through distributors and direct sales.

The eco-friendly and plastic-free sandwich skillet Earthwedge is one of the developments which the acquisition will allow Sirane to manufacture.

“This [sandwich skillet] will be the first of many innovative new products that combine existing Sirane technology with the board-processing operations at Olympic. But there will be more: we’re a development company, always looking at new ideas,” Balderson continues.

Sirane has expertise in absorbency and material science. Specialisms include bags and pouches, absorbent products, shelf-life extension and dual-ovenable products.

The supplier has four main divisions: food packaging; medical & healthcare; horticultural and industrial. The company is based in Telford, Shropshire, UK, with additional manufacturing in Guadalajara (Mexico), Wroclaw (Poland) and Moscow (Russia).

Sirane is set to feature in the second series of BBC One’s War on Plastics – due to be aired in April – with filming having taken place onsite in January when presenter Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall visited to learn about alternatives to plastics.

By Joshua Poole

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