Lamb Weston is serving up more than just fries with its latest packaging innovation. In September, it began using a bio-based, lower-carbon bag made from used cooking oil. Working with chemical supplier SABIC, the frozen potato giant has introduced a retail pack made with at least 60% bio-circular plastic, marking an industry first for pre-fried frozen potato products.
“We know distributors, retailers, and consumers are more conscious than ever about their environmental impact,” says Sebastiaan Besems, VP commercial EMEA at Lamb Weston. “They expect packaging that aligns with their sustainability goals, and we’ve anticipated that shift. By using SABIC’s bio-renewable polymer, we’ve developed an industry-leading, ISCC Plus-certified packaging solution that reduces our retail bags’ carbon footprint by 30%.”
The ISCC Plus mass balancing regime is a chain of custody method that allows companies to track and attribute the flow of sustainable materials through a complex supply chain, even when mixed with conventional materials, ensuring credible sustainability claims. Lamb Weston’s bag has been certified as using 60% bio-based materials.
 | Read this related article, “Brown is the New Green: Lamb Weston’s Recyclable Paper Fry Bag” |
The process behind the new bag is a closed-loop system that starts in Lamb Weston’s own kitchens. Used cooking oil from production is collected, converted into bio-feedstock, and transformed into SABIC’s high-density polyethylene and Supeer metallocene linear low-density polyethylene, part of SABIC’s Trucircle portfolio. According to SABIC, the HDPE delivers high strength and flexibility, while the Supeer resin “lends excellent bag sealing.”
The resin is then converted by Oerlemans Plastics, a subsidiary of Opackgroup, into a thin, multilayer film. According to Besems, the thickness of the film has been reduced by 20%, with each bag weighing just 10 grams on average. Although it’s lighter, the bag is still durable enough to protect frozen fries from factory to fryer, he adds.
According to SABIC, the lighter weight of the bag coupled with the bio-based polymer results in a 30% lower carbon footprint when calculated against Lamb Weston’s previous retail packaging made from 100% fossil-based film.
During its switch to renewable materials, Lamb Weston was diligent about making sure the packaging maintained the safety and the quality of the frozen potatoes. Both SABIC resins used in the packaging meet the stringent requirements of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the U.S. FDA for food contact.
“Our ambition is clear,” Besems says. “By 2030, we aim to cut our overall product carbon footprint by 25%, halve our food waste, and transition to more circular production. This packaging innovation is a crucial step in that journey.”
After extensive testing, Lamb Weston’s new packaging launched in September in the U.K. and the Netherlands, with the goal of expanding further. PW
