Finnish retailer Kesko has launched its new wood fibre-based EcoFishBox in a bid to reduce the use of plastics in its store.
The new corrugated fish box produced by packaging company Stora Enso will be used to replace expanded polystyrene (EPS) containers.
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EcoFishBox was developed in Finland in collaboration with grocery stores and the fishing industry.
In the last year, several Kesko stores have successfully tested the new wood fibre-based boxes.
Kesko grocery trade sustainability manager Timo Jäske said: “During the year, we experimented with wood fibre-based fish boxes in a few K-food stores. In terms of usability and logistics, the product did not depart from the EPS approach.”
The new corrugated containerboard is made from domestic wood fibre and is completely recyclable.
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By GlobalDataAccording to an estimate, carbon dioxide emissions will significantly decline by nearly 30% throughout the value chain following the introduction of the new box.
Jäske added: “At K Group, we are committed to reducing the use of plastic and, by setting an example, we also want to encourage our customers to do the same, hopefully inspiring them to choose, for instance, paper bags for their shopping.
“In the future, the use of renewable wood-based materials rather than plastics can be used in a variety of applications within the grocery trade.”
The stores will also be able to easily and cost-effectively recycle the fibre-based fish box.
The compressable EcoFishBox is claimed to reduce the handling of packaging waste, transportation, and recycling costs by as much as 60%.
