The core of the Systemic Design process is the link between Caseificio Rosso company and the Territory of Biella. The entire geographical area becomes a laboratory to experience industrial symbiosis and create self-sufficient loops for making the local area more resilient. The enhancement of unexpressed assets gives rise to potential opportunities previously untracked so that wool by-products become the new input of dairy packaging for a supply chain with a lower environmental impact.
Local
Italy
Province of Biella, Piedmont (Italy).
Mainly urban
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
No
No
As an individual in partnership with other persons
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The research proposes a systemic project for the company Caseificio Rosso and its territory, the province of Biella. The project takes shape from the holistic study of the territorial area and the company. There are several resources that the location offers and that Caseificio Rosso, through the manufacturing activity, already enhances. However, we identified other raw materials that the territory or the dairy factory generates, allowing us to consider new ways of managing resources inside and outside the company shell. It has granted us to narrow the geographical range of providers of the cheese supply chain and accentuate the essential link between Caseificio Rosso and the territory of Biella in all stages of its production. The industrial symbiosis and the dialogue with companies were the most effective ways to face the difficulties of the dairy and the ones of the area of Biella, impoverished economically, socially and environmentally.
The project explores the issue of packaging vertically. The previous research led us to design innovative packaging solutions from by-products discarded by other local industrial processes. In particular, wool by-products from the Biella textile industries, local rustic wool for disposal, and rice husk. Among these, the link between the dairy district and wool textile is the most powerful in identity strength and function; it is easy to assume a new chain between the two sectors, historically already linked. For designing packaging, we thought of two types of textile output produced by Lanificio Fratelli Piacenza: the remnant cloths for primary packaging and the wool-fluffy waste for filling shipping boxes.
At the same time, the analysis in the laboratory of remnant cloths from the wool mills confirmed its suitability for preserving cheese. The positive results of the experimentation and the expressiveness of the wool fabric led us to prototype the primary packaging for the cheese and to draw the new system map.
SYSTEMIC DESIGN
CIRCULAR ECONOMY
INDUSTRIAL SYMBIOSIS
LOCAL SUPPLY CHAIN
REUSABLE PACKAGING
Cheese packaging stems from the concepts of the preservation of ecosystems and the promotion of the territory of Biella. The new packaging links two manufacturing sectors, food and textile, responsible worldwide for the high consumption of resources, emission of pollutants and generation of waste with high environmental and social negative impacts.
The replacement of the plastic film of the primary packaging and the plastic padding of shipping boxes of Caseificio Rosso with the use of local waste wool generates numerous benefits on ecosystems resulting from:
- recovery of virgin material allocated for disposal;
- exploitation of the energy incorporated in fabric production;
- reduction of emissions from material displacement and disposal processes;
- reduction in demand for new plastics and the emissions generated to produce them;
- decrease in domestic production of waste from plastic packaging.
The new dairy packaging implies domestic reuse. Extending the product life means no longer staying in the logic of disposable packaging and maximizing the resources used to produce it.
The graphics of each packaging show the consumers how to preserve cheese over time to change the negative perception of moulds into a positive one. In this case, the communicative factor contributes to reducing the food waste of cheese derived from mould and raises awareness on the issue of food waste.
The combination of functional aspects and the graphic-communicative perspective are more than relevant in marketing: the applied strategies support the image of Biella, of the Caseificio Rosso and cheese and involve a return on investment through an increase in cheese sales.
The unprecedented dialogue between the textile and dairy district through packaging innovation would generate a new model for other companies in the same sectors and final users.
Cheese packaging has simple, intuitive, and engaging aesthetics. The packaging innovation consists of two proposals based on the waste quality of the wool; the first is in direct contact with the cheese, while the second is the filling for the cheese shipping boxes.
Primary packaging is composed of two cream-coloured cylinders; it can be in two dimensions to contain one or three cheeses of 350g each: XS Pack is the smaller, and XL Pack is the bigger one. The opening and closing system takes advantage of the friction between the two cylinders; the components, adherent to the cheese, preserve the quality of the food and ensure the consumer a secure grip. The linear shape of both solutions allows a simplified use and reuse, facilitating the consumption of cheese at home and food transport and other items outside. Despite being a waste, the user perceives the elegance and finesse of the material, which was designed originally for luxury fashion.
Secondary packaging is an insulating panel for the shipping boxes of Caseificio Rosso; a coating of compostable material contains 1 cm high wool-fluffy waste. In this case, the transparent film shows the inner part that keeps its natural look so that the consumer can experience raw wool and recognize it as industrial waste.
Simple graphic elements inform on the origin of cheese and packing raw materials. The icons guide the consumer in managing the food and reusing the packaging once the cheese is over.
Although in different ways, people can have a positive and unusual experience through both packagings. Wool has a historical value in the material culture of Biella, where textile has always characterized human activities. Packaging promotes a sensory involvement of the consumer, who, mainly touching packaging, can perceive the high-quality production of the material. The consumer comes to the sensation of being part of the process and understands he can determine a positive impact on packaging end-of-life.
The concept has its roots in a larger model of a virtuous society that operates in coherence with Nature, where the output of one system becomes the input for another. The new economic and productive model realises through Systemic Project for Caseificio Rosso. The design process acts directly and indirectly on the complexity of the dairy company and the area of Biella, dealing with the challenges of the current scenario. The first act of inclusion is to face fragile contexts, which the Province of Biella is. This geographical area has been experiencing a crisis of identity and economic marginalisation, mainly due to the textile decline.
Since 2000, many factories have gone out of business because of the high competition for foreign polymeric fibres instead of natural ones, like wool. Moreover, the lack of a widespread infrastructure for mobility has been a limit for new markets and enhanced the isolation of the Province. But the power of this area is already present there, where high-quality raw materials and consolidated industrial knowledge are accessible to all. Packaging innovation strategies start from a local output, wool. It is typical of the area and so far destined for an elite audience, but now becomes tableware for everyone and promotes both the cheese and the Biella area. Fostering this geographical area means designing for all its inhabitants, who are equal beneficiaries of the new draw. The project of new supply chains stems from a human-centred approach, able to shift the attention from the product to the human relationships. The design of the new system model promotes cooperation between stakeholders and involves companies of different sizes and sectors.
Moreover, the production of wool packaging involves simple processes, machinery, and skills already in possession by local companies that can access the innovation or the methodology applied. These technological features allow an affordable packaging rate for the dairy company and the consumers.
Creating a new dairy packaging chain from textile waste interacts with the autopoietic capacity of a territory through the symbiotic involvement between three companies. The textile factory subject to change is Fratelli Piacenza, a company historically settled in the area. It has about 240 employees who live in the Province of Biella and manage the weaving work of the factory, the dyeing and finishing of fabrics, and the production waste. The disposal of textile by-products is the first step affected by the circular model, directly involving workers. They must renew established practices in favour of new conjectures for the use of waste in a new production line. The company in charge of producing the wool panels for the secondary packaging today fabricates only plastic films; the systemic project also updates the traditional processing of plastic and enriches the skills of workers, pruning company innovation outside the Province of Biella. The packaging thus produced passes to Caseificio Rosso. The Biella company is small, but the new packaging touches more subjects related to it. First, the workers involved in the cheese packaging phase change the degree of involvement required: a semi-automatic machine seals the plastic film enveloping the cheese, while for wool packaging, the operator is responsible for packing the food himself. Once employees have acquired the new circular model, they will maintain the same pro-environmental attitude even as citizens. Wool cheese packaging is also a positive model for citizens and civil society as it promotes good waste management practices, respecting the environment and territorial welfare.
Packaging affects people's habits even when they are the final consumers of the new product. Packaging promotes e-learning to remove moulds from cheese and suggests reuse practices as an alternative to packaging disposal. So that, also when in front of another packaging, the consumer chooses critically.
Creating a network of relationships plays a crucial role in Systemic Design projects. The innovative packaging involves the Biella wool sector, generating an original bond between two realities. Thus, the leading local stakeholders are Caseificio Rosso (dairy) and Fratelli Piacenza (woollen mill), which actively contribute to the project through a symbiotic exchange of raw materials: Fratelli Piacenza produces the primary packaging with its resources for the dairy industry and also provides the wool-fluffy waste for the secondary packaging. In this case, Corapack, the actual furnisher of plastic films for Caseificio Rosso, assembles the insulated panels.
The study continues by investigating how wool preserves cheese. It was possible for an unexpected collaboration and multidisciplinary dialogue between two regional public stakeholders: the Food Technologies Department of the University of Turin shared its laboratories with the Systemic Design department of the Polytechnic of Turin.
For the future development of the project, other actors could be fundamental. First, at a regional level, the Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of Piedmont, Liguria, and Valle D'Aosta could represent a possible partner to continue the analytical activity and verify the wholesomeness of cheese in close contact with wool (MOCA).
For a cultural contribution to the project, Fondazione Pistoletto and Fondazione Sella, both in Biella, are relevant for their commitment to the art field, culture, and industrial innovation. The two poles would play a significant role in promoting the concept and organising awareness meetings and workshops to attract the interest of citizens and companies.
Finally, the aim is to replicate the production of the new wool packaging in other companies in the area. Unione Industriale Biellese is an association representing more than 400 Biella firms; it would actively contribute to the systemic project by creating a solid network of collaborative industries.
Systemic Design is a discipline developed from Systems Theory. It deals with complex scenarios that articulate situations in which multiple factors affect the State-of-the-art. It imitates the principles of metabolization of nature and offers the designer tools to conceive open industrial systems in which there is no production waste. The applied design methodology follows the logic of Systemic Design and provides tools to think "systemically" about the production model of Caseificio Rosso; in this case, the transformation of some specific elements of the value chain can bring obvious benefits in terms of sustainability and circularity. Designing innovative solutions in industrial processes generates autopoietic and circular systems in the corporate and territorial fields, contributing to the general socio-economic development of the locality/province.
Systemic Design Methodology promotes a transdisciplinary approach to look at all the components and addresses multiple interconnected problems. The holistic study of the context is the first operational step and takes advantage of an environmental, historical, economic and socio-cultural point of view. It refers to three disciplines: Economic Management, Theory & History of Systemic Design, and Procedures for Environmental Sustainability. The multiple tools provided by the systemic methodology mark the time of the design process, punctuated by operational steps: the Holistic Diagnosis of the context, the analysis of Challenges and Opportunities of the entire system, the evaluation of potential opportunities and solutions through the Multi-criteria Analysis tool, the development of strategies and the drafting of the Systemic Map, and finally the identification and the evaluation of Outcomes. The contamination of knowledge allows us to map the connections between one factor and the other and to choose the most appropriate strategy, following the assessment of economic, environmental, and socio-cultural impacts.
PRODUCT INNOVATION
Dairy packaging is a low-rate innovation sector. Dairy companies prefer plastic film as the material for food packaging mainly because of the low cost of raw materials; the lack of diversification of packaging makes it more difficult for consumers to understand the value of cheese during the purchase phase and thus understand the difference between one production system and another. In this scenario, wool emerges as an innovative material because it combines the ability to effectively preserve food with a tough aesthetic expressiveness that is missing in traditional packaging.
MARKET INNOVATION
The combination of wool and cheese creates an unprecedented link between two very distant manufacturing sectors, thanks to which both build unique markets and new territorial perspectives.
Wool, which is almost exclusively a material of the fashion world, replaces disposable plastic material and enters the food industry.
It is a market innovation also because it affects industrial waste of pre-consumer wool.
TERRITORIAL INNOVATION AND PARADIGM SHIFT
The innovative key lies not only in the final result but in the applied methodology: the thought of Systemic Design undermines the prevalent logic of manufacturing from scratch to use what already a circumscribed territory has inside. In this case, wool for packaging is already a ready-to-use material as the output of a production process. The issue of industrial textile waste has a value not only locally in Biella but globally. In rare cases, these are reused within the production process, while the remaining majority is difficult to trace the disposal. The end of life of this material costs a dear price to society since almost entirely externalized. Faced with these dynamics, the design for Caseificio Rosso generates a shared gain between partner companies, citizens, civil society and the environment and invites each reality to make responsible and collective choices.
THE METHODOLOGY
The Systemic Design methodology offers instruments to face complex scenarios with multiple strategies; they aim to enhance, regenerate, and improve the efficiency of territories, companies, resources, and relationships within the same system. These tools allow a critical analysis of each reality. The uniqueness of areas is not an obstacle because the methodology offers easy-to-use tools: Gigamaps, graphs, Multi-criteria Analysis, and System maps are among the elements that describe the systemic process, replicable several times even in the same territory.
THE PACKAGING SUPPLY-CHAIN
All wool mills qualified in producing fabrics generate large quantities of waste, potentially suitable for packaging solutions. There are three Italian textile districts, including Biella, in which there are many companies of this type. More in these contexts than elsewhere, it is easier to replicate a symbiotic agreement between companies; it is successful where the dairy and textile factories are closer to each other.
The packaging uses essential technologies for cutting and sewing processes that increase the chance of its replicability by different textile companies. Even if the supply chain consists of several steps, it presupposes know-how already owned by the textile and dairy industry. Moreover, easy replicability represents a potential for future developments to create a network of companies where the peculiarity of waste of each can become the distinctive element of different lines of dairy packaging.
THE PACKAGING USABILITY FOR DIFFERENT CHEESES
The wool packaging has stored for two months "Maccagnetto" form, a typical cheese of Caseificio Rosso factory and the province of Biella: it's a mature cheese covered with an inedible crust that protects the soft internal dough. The positive results of the experiment suggest that the new packaging can be appropriate for other categories of cheese similar in texture and crust to Maccagnetto cheese.
Systemic Project for Caseificio Rosso aims to join the first tough Global Challenge of Sustainable Development and Climate Change. The proposed economic model, attentive to sustainability matters, is in line with two objectives of the UN Agenda 2030. Among SDGs, there are some particular targets that the Systemic Project faces.
Goal n. 9, INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE:
Target 9.4 Upgrade all industries and infrastructures for sustainability -Using industrial wool waste enhances the energy incorporated in the already processed material and prevents employing further energetic inputs for disposal. Efficient use of existing resources increases the positive environmental impact of the company.
Target 9.5 Enhance research and upgrade industrial technologies - The project demonstrates how research applied to industry generates innovative solutions and resilient and more sustainable systems. In this instance, the collaboration between Caseificio Rosso, Fratelli Piacenza and Universities has traced a new research path for both sectors.
Goal n. 12, RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION:
Target 12.3 Halve global for capita food waste - Mould has a negative reputation among most consumers; it is one of the reasons people throw away cheese and contributes to raising the food waste rate. One of the packaging goals is to communicate how to eliminate superficial moulds. The person can access, through a QR code, the information material developed by Caseificio Rosso.
Target 12.5 Substantially reduce waste generation - By developing dairy packaging, the wool mill reduces its production of wool waste with immediate effect. Over time it also helps to reduce household waste from plastic packaging.
Target 12.8 Promote Universal understanding of sustainable lifestyles - The new packaging is an example of a sustainable product that tries to give information about the traceability of materials and to equip the consumer with enough tools to achieve environmental awareness.
