With its tray sealing technology, Proseal plays a pioneering role in the search for workable alternatives to plastic trays and foil within the European soft fruit sector.

The company explains that new legislation, such as the UK’s Plastic Packaging Tax and the EU plastic waste levy, coupled with consumer negative perceptions of plastic use, are the main drivers of this change. “While plastic packaging still offers many benefits, the growing resistance to plastic packaging is forcing growers and packers to look for other solutions,” says Daryl Henshaw, key accounts manager at Proseal.

Proseal’s reputation in soft fruit sealing (the company estimates that 95% of all topseal packs produced in the UK are processed on Proseal machines) means the company is ideally positioned to support the development of new and innovative packaging materials. Recently introduced products include the Alexa Stackpack, an inline, ready-to-use, fully printed kraft cardboard punnet. Proseal’s reputation in soft fruit sealing (the company estimates that 95% of all topseal packs produced in the UK are processed on Proseal machines) means the company is ideally positioned to support the development of new and innovative packaging materials. Although the punnet comes pre-assembled, until now there was no system available to automate the manual folding and sealing of the two flanges.

In collaboration with Alexa, Proseal has developed a technology that automatically folds and seals the flanges of the packaging when the packages are filled and pass the packaging line. “Sealing the flanges has been a challenge for processors, but we have developed a unique solution for this,” explains Henshaw.

Another ready-made system that is increasingly being used in Europe is the CKF Earthcycle Punnet. This offers the possibility to easily switch between plastic and pulp and to switch from film based on plastic to film based on cellulose. “It offers a completely plastic-free, viable alternative to the plastic punnet. Packers can process these materials using their existing Proseal machines,” Henshaw continues.

One of the advantages of the Proseal tray sealers is the fact that they are future-proof, which means that users have the option to remove or add functionalities to easily handle new packaging formats. “It offers a completely plastic-free, viable alternative to the plastic punnet. Packers can process these materials using their existing Proseal machines,” Henshaw continues.“It offers a completely plastic-free, viable alternative to the plastic punnet. Packers can process these materials using their existing Proseal machines,” Henshaw continues.“It offers a completely plastic-free, viable alternative to the plastic punnet. Packers can process these materials using their existing Proseal machines,” Henshaw continues.“It offers a completely plastic-free, viable alternative to the plastic punnet. Packers can process these materials using their existing Proseal machines,” Henshaw continues. In addition, the company’s dedicated ‘trial kitchen’ allows customers to test new materials and tray designs to ensure they meet their requirements.

Customers who are not yet ready to make the switch from plastic to alternatives can make significant savings by reducing the weight of existing trays by simply replacing clamshell lids with a foil lid. “By switching to topseal, an 8gr clamshell lid can be replaced by a 0.5gr foil. This saves 95% on the plastic of the lid and 40% on the plastic consumption of the total punnet.”