Dongwon F&B said on the 6th that it has developed a liquid product container that dramatically reduces plastic use. Dongwon F&B plans to apply it to containers for its tuna extract, cooking oil and other products, and expand it to other items later.
According to Dongwon F&B, the container was developed by researchers in the packaging development team at the Dongwon Food Science Research Institute, starting in the first half of 2024. The Dongwon Food Science Research Institute is Dongwon F&B's central research center. Cooking oil containers used for about 50 years frequently suffered leaks due to a "sink" phenomenon in which the inner side of the thick part at the bottle mouth caved in, and the team set out to find a new design to fix it.
The packaging development team focused solely on two years of research and development (R&D) with Namyang Magic, a container manufacturing company, and after numerous tests completed a 12-sided protrusion structure and a diamond support ring. The eco-friendly container, which incorporates a discontinuous ring-shaped preform (a semi-finished product before making a PET container), not only prevents leaks but also blocks tampering with its distinctive design.
In particular, Dongwon F&B said using this container can reduce annual plastic use by 14 tons (t) and cut carbon dioxide emissions by more than an average of 40 t per year. That is equivalent to cultivating a forest the size of 3.5 soccer fields.
The newly developed container also won the main award, the Korea Packaging Technology Society President's Award, at the recent Korea Packaging Awards. The company was recognized for efforts to reduce plastic use.
A Dongwon F&B official said, "As part of 'Less Plastic,' which has been pursued in earnest since 2020, we are focusing on developing eco-friendly containers," adding, "We plan to dramatically reduce carbon dioxide emissions through continued R&D on containers for our core products going forward."