New Airline Paperboard Breakfast Boxes Save Space, Extend Life of Contents

The Swedish airline Malmö Aviation has recently launched new breakfast boxes made of Iggesund Paperboard's Invercote and Invercote Bio virgin fiber-based paperboard. The boxes save space on board, extend the life of their contents, simplify handling, and have a lower environmental impact than their plastic-based predecessors.

The new breakfast boxes are the result of a long development process focusing on both functionality and user friendliness. Instigators of the development were the Swedish catering company Picknick, the converters Omikron, and Malmö Aviation's then project leader Annika Melin.

The outer shell of the box is made of ordinary Invercote. Inside is a serving tray made of Invercote Bio to hold the fresh food. This tray is in turn flow packed with a modified atmosphere to increase the food's shelf life and help prevent fogging. A key feature of Invercote Bio is its bioplastic coating. This means that the tray can go into the same waste stream as the food scraps—they can all be sent directly to an anaerobic digestion plant to produce biogas without the need for prior sorting.

"The combination of paperboard and bioplastic that are certified compostable to European standards means that the new box functions well in today's recycling systems and will continue to do so in future systems," says Jonas Adler, commercial manager of the Invercote Bio products from Iggesund.

Malin Olin, inflight and lounge manager for Malmö Aviation, explains that "because the new breakfast boxes are smaller than our current ones, we can load far more onto each serving trolley. That saves weight and space on board and helps the environment. The boxes also have two parts, making them easier to use."

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