A team in Spain has developed an innovation that uses peach residue to create bio-packaging. The project is called Agropack and is dedicated to creating eco-friendly containers made of fruit.

It currently produces a range of products funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development. Among them are boxes, Tupperware and bags.

Agropack's focuses on “closing the cycle of manipulative canning industries for stone fruit”, according to its website. 

It also says it has an “extraordinary economic, social and environmental impact on reducing residue that accounts for between 10% and 28% of total stone fruit production”. 

The use of stone fruit residue to create containers is also a solution to one of the biggest problems faced by producers. Its new containers could provide a solution for expensive packaging in the industry.

Processing the material can be expensive in terms of transport and waste storage. Therefore, Agropack says profitability is a big factor in its innovation.

"It is an economically viable solution to eliminate residue that comes from fruit waste”. 

Partners in peach packaging

Agropack is a joint effort involving an alliance of multiple institutions. Among them include the Union of Small Farmers and Livestock of the Region of Murcia, Agromarketing and Andaltec. 

María Dolores of Andaltec also emphasized the economic impact of the project when speaking with Mundoplast.com.

She states that Agropack not only has a positive impact on its producers but also on the environment.

Throughout the project, researchers will continue improving methodology.

In the future, the peach and other stone fruit to be used for different kinds of container production within the distribution process of stone fruit.  

Dolores said that the project will create material "apt to use in all parts of the distribution process". That way, peaches would serve as the material for their packaging.