ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS

WHITE IRON & SUSTAINABILITY

Environment

Lefkosiderourgia Kavalas S.A. is a company with a strong commitment to environmental responsibility. The materials it uses to manufacture its products are fully recyclable, as they come from nature and return to it.

Tinplate – a thin sheet of steel coated with tin – is an environmentally friendly material. Due to its magnetic properties, it can be easily recovered from other waste and, even if it has not been separated from the outset, can be sent directly to the foundry.

Whatever quantities of secondary tinplate packaging materials are collected, they are absorbed by the steel production industry. Even if discarded through negligence, they decompose and return to nature without causing harmful side effects. Thus, quantities of secondary tinplate packaging materials do not remain active sources of pollution or environmental burden.

Packaged food

Tinplate packaging is used for all types of food, both liquid and solid. Consequently, competition is considered to be the range of packaging materials, namely plastic, glass, Tetra Pak and aluminium. Compared to these, tinplate packaging offers substantial and unique competitive advantages.

Specifically, tinplate packaging is hygienic, safe and friendly to both people and the environment.

100% natural, as it is tin-plated steel.
100% impervious to light, oxygen and any other external interference.
100% recyclable and eco-friendly.

Furthermore, tinplate packaging is the type used for all tinned foods, as it is the only material that allows for the pasteurisation and sterilisation of the product already sealed inside it, and therefore does not require the use of preservatives.

Foods packaged in tinplate include:

Olive oil
Olives
Tomato products
Feta PDO and other cheese products
Fish, salted fish and ready meals
Fruit in the form of compote, which is not packaged in any other type of packaging
Perishable foods, such as infant formula, baby food and evaporated milk

Tinplate and olive oil packaging

Olive oil is a valuable ingredient for health and a cornerstone of the Mediterranean diet. To preserve its beneficial properties in the long term, it must be marketed in packaging that prevents the deterioration of its valuable and sensitive components. The primary and particularly important advantage of tinplate packaging is that it protects the nutritional value of olive oil and delivers it unaltered to the consumer, as it is 100% impervious to light and oxygen.

A comparative study conducted by the German Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Processing and Packaging demonstrated that ‘the most suitable packaging for olive oil is tinplate packaging, which protects the nutritional value much more effectively than light-permeable glass and plastic bottles, the latter of which are also permeable to oxygen”.

Furthermore, for standardised and branded olive oil, tin packaging is what seals the high standards of an olive oil brand, thanks to its physical characteristics as well as the printing possibilities it offers. These capabilities contribute to the creation of an olive oil brand (container shape and display of name, logo, visual theme) which stands out on the shelf and immediately and powerfully communicates all the quality attributes of the olive oil it contains.