DS Smith and Eat Happy partner to develop fully recyclable sushi trays

DS Smith has partnered with sushi specialist Eat Happy to develop a fully recyclable sustainable solution for the firm’s disposable plastic sushi trays.

The tray and the lid of the new packaging are made from natural and renewable raw materials using corrugated cardboard. The innovative packaging solutions are designed to be water and grease-repellent as well as protect and preserve the sushi product within.

The sushi trays are developed in a diverse range of shapes and sizes from single to party platters using our innovative Circular Design Metrics approach and the replacement trays are anticipated to save more than 1,250 tonnes of plastic per year.

Using Circular Design Metrics, DS Smith evaluates and tailors a unique solution against a formula of eight set criteria inclusive of recyclability, renewable materials, and supply chain optimization. The design metrics are intended to measure a packaging’s suitability for the circular economy and enable designers to identify areas for completion in each unique product.

"The fresh food segment is one of the future growth markets that always presents us with exciting tasks. The biggest challenge for us is that freshly prepared sushi remains in direct contact with the packaging during the refrigeration process at the counter level," Volker Quaas, head of Design and Innovation for Germany and Switzerland, DS Smith.

“It’s also vital that the product can be seen and is visible via a window within the tray and these careful design elements need to fit fully with materials that work within the circular economy. The solution is beneficial for our clients because it is fully in line with current legislation to avoid single-use plastic.”

DS Smith offers an extensive product portfolio of sustainable packaging solutions for direct or indirect food contact for a wide variety of food types, whether fresh, chilled, frozen, fatty or other. The new packaging solution works alongside its strategic growth plan across packaging for the fresh food sector.

"We spent a long time working on a new, more sustainable packaging solution that meets the stringent requirements for our products. We’re delighted that, with DS Smith’s help, we can now finally launch packaging that does just that," Florian Bell, chief executive officer, Eat Happy Group.

"The new innovative packaging solution will allow us to meet our retail partners’ and customers’ increasing demand for more environmentally friendly packaging. But it also means we as a company, can help protect the climate and the environment. So, moving to a sophisticated, fully recyclable packaging solution made of natural, renewable materials is particularly important for us. The consultation process with the team from DS Smith was focused on our specific aims and we worked together to overcome the major challenges that freshly rolled sushi poses.”