Out of all the different industries that need the use of packaging machines and packing products, shipping fruit is one of the most important. As such, researchers and companies are increasingly introducing new improvements of modern packaging technology.
Packaging Europe reported that a new packaging line meant for apples has recently entered the market with a modular design, allowing it to be adapted in almost any form to better meet different packhouses' requirements. It is a full feeding and flow-wrapping system that requires fewer operators than conventional machines would, simultaneously improving production efficiency and reducing industry costs.
This new packaging line can handle any type of apple without bruising any of them, doing so by reducing the amount of space that the fruit can move around in during the packaging process. Even in the event of variations in the fruit's size, the product control system has features like misplaced product detection and packaging memory that's intended to maximize the efficiency of different packaging lines.
This system has a number of potential variations as well. It can package apples in trayless pack styles of four, six, eight or ten, as well as inline packs of three or four. Packs can be produced using acetate, styrene or cardboard. They also can be fed in many ways depending on how the fruit itself has been stored and transported. Delicate varieties of apple can be used with drying rollers, while harder ones can use dry box tippers or roller conveyors.
If packhouses can reduce their use of packaging materials, they'll be able to cut production costs, be more environmentally friendly and appeal to consumers more than ever.
Biodegradable film an upcoming focus
When it comes to stretch film equipment, industry experts are working on new solutions to improve production reception. One Chilean chemist is working to develop a biodegradable polymeric film for use in the fruit industry, according to Fresh Fruit Portal.
Focusing on the negative impacts of plastic on the environment, Dr. Paula Zapata worked to develop the film to help the industry become more friendly toward conservation. Plastic takes more than a century to decompose on average, about 600 times longer than the fruit it would hold.
"Polymers generally take more than 100 years to biodegrade and they create great socioeconomic and environmental damage, so…why not make a film that can degrade in environmental conditions and that apart from that, serves a function of transport for packing different materials?" Zapata told the news source.
The project was mostly funded by the Chilean Agriculture Ministry's Agricultural Innovation Fund, undertaken at the Universidad de Santiago in the country. Another 10 percent of the funding was supplied by local company BO Packaging S.A., which works to carry out "processing improvements."
Zapata told the news source that the product would serve two purposes. They can both prevent outside bacteria and fungi from accessing the fruit and ensure that once the film has been used, the shipping process remains environmentally friendly.
The film itself is plastic with natural additives. It will reduce losses that the country experiences in transporting fruit, where as much as 10 percent of the product is lost in international transport. Between the longer-lasting quality of the food and an improved deterioration rate once the film's life cycle is complete, the film is expected to help change the fruit packaging industry for good. Its cost will also not be much higher than current plastic, as current estimates put its potential leaps at only about 5 percent. It should be ready for the market in the next two years.
