Winning project: Environmentally friendly yogurt pot

Emmi’s Swiss facilities alone use around 600 million yogurt pots each year. For the sake of the environment, it’s time to take a critical look at what we can do to improve the status quo.

Multi-component pots as the new benchmark

In Switzerland, the pots Emmi primarily uses for its yogurt consist of a thin polystyrene (PS) base reinforced by a cardboard sleeve. The lid is also made of PS or aluminium. This “3-component cup” received the highest grade in a study by the Swiss Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL). Since there is no recycling system for PS cups in Switzerland yet, we are always on the lookout for alternative yogurt pot designs that are demonstrably more environmentally friendly and also perform well in practice.

Little brother of the beverage carton proves it’s got what it takes

Following a market analysis, discussions were held with various suppliers and the first tests were conducted. The Seda Paper Cup came out on top. The pot is constructed like a beverage carton: paper, coated with a thin layer of plastic. It outperforms the conventional yogurt pot in several ways:

• 60 % less CO2emissions
• Equally high product protection
• Can be filled using existing systems
• Comparable price

In a first step, the vegan yogurt alternative from beleaf will be offered in the new pots in foreign markets. Additional products are scheduled to follow in due course.