Shedding some weight

• New lightweight beer bottle designs prove popular with customers while saving on material costs
• Lightweight packaging and containers can also cut transport costs and carbon footprint

Lightweight glass containers offer commercial benefits for manufacturers, retailers and brand owners.

If on-site conditions are favourable, it is efficient to integrate renewable energy into production processes. It has strong potential in several subsectors of the food and beverage industry, wherever there is demand for heating, for example in beer, wine, and cheese manufacturing.

Renewable heat can be generated from:

Intelligent packaging is based on the idea that packaging is more than a container, it can also be a highly effective communication medium, carrying information on material flows and logistics (via truck, train, ship, etc), and it can transmit information visually (via indicators, graphics, etc.) or electronically (via a barcode or the Internet) throughout every phase of the supply chain.

Intelligent packaging encompasses:

 Inspired by nature ... for nature

Durable water repellent (DWR) is a finish added to fabrics to make them water-resistant. The pores on the water-repellent fabric remain open so it can 'breathe', making the garments comfortable to wear. DWR wears off over time, so retreatment (e.g. spray-on products for consumers to use) can be necessary. 

Natural materials 'embedded' throughout!

Power to the people

iPower is a Scottish-based social enterprise, striving to deliver low-carbon energy systems for all. They work with social housing but also other residential enterprises.

iPower initiates and oversees the installation of BlueGEN fuel cell micro-CHP (combined heating and power). Using gas to provide CHP, customers can save on energy costs and carbon emissions with no upfront cost.  

The company's mission is to make clean energy affordable to all:  

Globechain is an online reuse platform in Europe, a so-called “free-cycle for corporates”. It allows companies and charities to claim unwanted items from the retail, commercial and construction sectors. Globechain can provide all the legislative information necessary for these transactions and, using a unique digital platform, creates a robust social impact waste audit trail. 

A wee scheme with big impacts

• Smart scheme diverts waste electrical and electronic equipment for re-use
• In this example, 5 tonnes of WEEE were diverted, saving € 15 500 and 109 tonnes of CO2 equivalents

Premier Sustain, a division of Premier Workspace Services, has developed a new service, called Renew IT, which aims to divert high-end electrical items from recycling back into re-use either through resale or donation.

Handy technology

• New hand dryers mean energy and cost savings while providing useful information
• A library expects to save € 22 640 on washroom facilities

The British Library had an annual spend on dry cleaning and replacing linen towels of about € 25 000 (£ 22 202). These included dryers with low-efficiency ratings. In response to this, it ran a two-month trial of new smart hand dryers.

Taming the steam

• Food-maker gets control of its steam production with simple measures
• Optimising boiler times and rationalising steam use in scalding and sterilisation saves 7 % and 3 % respectively

Steam is used in the food industry for a number of processes, both directly related to food production, such as blanching or steaming foods, and indirectly related activities like line cleaning. Producing large quantities of steam for heating and sterilisation can be very energy intensive.