HOT HOUSE: A REFOILUTION

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Somewhat ahead of its time, Confoil Ltd has been offering fully recyclable packaging options since it was established in 1966.

Now with food manufacturers and customers looking for more sustainable packaging options Confoil NZ Ltd continues to offer a wide range of foil and paper packaging solutions to frozen food manufacturers, bakeries – commercial and retail, supermarkets, meals on wheels, school lunch programmes and many more.

Confoil NZ’s national sales manager James Romhany says originally the company began making foil containers and catering products and now support that with some machinery that compliments the company’s packaging.

“We have a very big focus on recyclability. Aluminum has advantages over plastic because it doesn’t lose any mechanical strength when you do recycle it, unlike plastic which you have to add virgin materials to,” he says.

The recycled aluminium can also be used in other industries such as buildings, vehicles, window frames, furniture etc.

“Seventy five percent of aluminium that has been produced is still in use today,” Romhany says.

Although aluminium takes a lot of energy to make from scratch, recycling only takes 5% of that energy meaning recycling it saves 95% of the energy used to make it in the first place. As a material it has the added benefit of being infinitely recyclable and is the third most abundant material in the Earth’s crust says Romhany.

“There’s a lot of it about but it isn’t talked about as much. It doesn’t get as many headlines as plastic obviously.”

Aluminium has another benefit when it comes to packaging food he says, as it acts as a barrier to light and oxygen.

“It’s also ideal for contactless meals that have been made in a sterile environment because you can pasteurise or retort products in the aluminium packaging.

“You can heat the product, hold it at a set temperature to kill the bugs and then seal it. Foil trays can also be used in the oven or BBQ as it’s resistant to heat.”

The team at Confoil offer customised solutions and advice about which packaging suits which product best and have sustainably sourced paper packaging options as well.

“The ready-made meal market seems to be growing,” says Romhany.

While plastic has its place, Romhany says aluminium packaging can help with the longevity of shelf lives which can also cut down on food waste. Another sustainability win.

For more info visit confoil.co.nz or call 0800 107 620

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