For the second consecutive year, a Gruppo Happy product has won the prestigious Best Packaging 2024 award from the Italian Institute of Packaging, thanks to an innovative solution which promises to revolutionise the seafood sector: the ZERO crate made from r-XPS, containing up to 50% post-consumer recycled content.
The awards took place on the 19th of April – during Milano Design Week – led by President Alessandra Fazio, with the competing products evaluated on the basis of accessibility, sustainability and innovation criteria.
For years, seafood packaging has relied on traditional EPS (expanded polystyrene) crates.
This material has always proven reliable in terms of guaranteeing optimum preservation of seafood products, thanks to its robustness and widespread adoption by the main fishing co-operatives in Italy and around Europe. More recently, however, EPS has been subject to criticism due to its alleged polluting qualities.
Indeed, its tendency to crumble – particularly when mistreated – has led to the dispersion of micro- and macro-plastics in the seas.
Faced with this challenge,
Gruppo Happy has developed an alternative solution which is sustainable and totally circular: ZERO, the crate made from XPS (extruded polystyrene).
The strength of this innovative material lies in the continuous extrusion production process, thanks to which it features a tough alveolar structure which, while it can break, does not disintegrate like traditional EPS (which is composed of compacted small particles).
ZERO also stands apart in terms of its versatility and sustainability.
Composed of of die-cut sheets of extruded polystyrene, it allows storage space to be significantly reduced. This means that it is possible to transport the equivalent of ten assembled crates in a thickness of just 10-12 cm, allowing for significant reductions in transport and storage costs.
But the innovations don’t stop there!
Once ZERO has performed its task, the crate can be reopened and sent for recycling, thus contributing to reductions in waste, and facilitating recovery operations.
Moreover, thanks to the use of XPS containing up to 50% post-consumer recycled material, ZERO offers greater sustainability than traditional crates, helping reduce the environmental impact.
In conclusion, ZERO represents a turning point in the seafood packaging industry, offering an innovative, sustainable and highly efficient solution for current market needs.
