Hong Kong SAR – The concept of environmental protection has attracted more and more public attention. As a result, Easy Health packaging company has focused on developing green packaging designs in recent years. Easy Health is planning to introduce five product packaging technologies that can change the landscape of the industry.

1. Water-soluble packaging

This kind of packaging is made of water-soluble materials, completely soluble in water, compostable, biodegradable, non-toxic and harmless to the environment, and helps reduce the amount of garbage. It is a new alternative to traditional plastic packaging. Water-soluble packaging is different from traditional plastic bags. The main ingredient is water-soluble material Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA). Natural materials such as cornflour, glycerine and water are also added. PVA is a water-soluble synthetic plastic. It can also be degraded by microorganisms in a full water environment, in composting facilities, and in soil, and decomposed into carbon dioxide and water. It returns to the ecosystem without generating microplastics. Just pour hot water above 80 degrees on the water-soluble package, and it will be completely dissolved in the water after a few minutes. After being dissolved in hot water, it can be poured directly into the sink. At the same time, it can be slowly decomposed in cold water or room temperature water.

2. Smart packaging

Smart food packaging has gradually received more and more attention, and its application in the meat industry is booming, including sensors, indicator tags, wireless frequency identification tags, and so on. However, there are still many challenges to be overcome for the actual application and commercialization of technology in food packaging.

In terms of technology, smart packaging can also be subdivided into sensors, wireless frequency identification tags (RFID), and indicator tags. At present, these three parts have many related technologies or research publications, but the actual applications in commercial food packaging are still few. This is mainly because smart packaging needs to seek lower cost and easier technology, as well as contextual applications that can be accepted by consumers and producers, in order to truly open the market for smart packaging. At present, the most practical technology that can be applied to food smart packaging is mainly the indicator, and a few products have been actually applied. This kind of products are mainly small product labels, which are based on the colour change technology that is visible to the naked eye. Today's applications are almost all time-temperature indicator labels (Time-Temperature Indicator; TTI), which mainly monitor the temperature and time during transportation and storage. The impact of changes on the content, there are other indicators for the freshness of fruits and vegetables, pH change labels, etc.

3. Edible packaging

Edible packaging ingredients contain starch (C6H10O5)n, gelatine, a small amount of lecithin, are edible ingredients. And the human body eat rice paper, the enzymes in the mouth will immediately break down rice paper. The main functions of edible films are: (i) isolating bacteria from entering food (ii) Preventing food from being exposed to moisture in the air (iii) Preventing food from melting and sticking to the product packaging at high temperatures.

4. Self-cooling & Self-heating packaging

Just press the button on the package, and the liquid in the self-cooling tank can be cooled in a few minutes. It is equipped with a small compressed container. When it is opened, the volume of CO expands rapidly, and the temperature of the beverage can be reduced to 4.4°C within 9 seconds. Self-heating packaging can heat the food in the packaging to the temperature you need within a few minutes.

5. Adaptive packaging

Adaptive packaging technology is to simulate the environmental parameters required by food, and automatically adjust the environmental changes in food storage and transfer, so that the environment in the packaging service can maximize the storage and quality of food. In adaptive packaging, the food environmental parameters to be adjusted or adapted mainly include temperature, humidity, pressure, gas composition and so on. This is also an intelligent processing and packaging technology. This technology consists of two parts: materials and processes. Some environmental parameters rely on chemical adjustment, some rely on biological adjustment, and some rely on physical adjustment. Therefore, this technology is currently the most complete packaging technology, and it is also the most difficult technology to achieve and control.