Danone introduces recyclable bioplastics in Germany

Danone becomes the first major yogurt producer on the German market to introduce recyclable bioplastic packaging. The French-based dairy’s Activia wellness yogurt is now filled into PLA pots, produced with maize starch as substrate material. Activia packaging now bears the WWF panda logo, because the dairy cooperated with this organisation in launching the new PLA pots. They are claimed to result in 43% less climate-damaging gases in production with 25% less fossil fuel required compared with the more conventional polystyrene pots.
To satisfy the WWF, only maize grain from varieties that are not gene modified may be used in production of the packaging. “But maize as basic starch for this purpose is only a preliminary solution,” cautions Andreas Ostermayr, Danone managing director for Germany and Switzerland. “Our medium term target is for PLA to be produced either from agricultural by-products or recycled PLA packaging.”
Ostermayr says the main aim for the dairy’s Activia yogurt is to produce the yogurt in a carbon neutral way. From now on in Germany this climate-saving ambition will include the packaging too.