Seward’s new autoclavable Stomacher bag can reduce plastic waste in food microbiology testing processes by up to 50%

Seward, the world leader in sample preparation for microbiological analyses, has launched the first paddle blender bag that can also be autoclaved. By avoiding the need for double-bagging, trials have shown that the new bags can reduce the amount of plastic waste by 50%, as well as saving time and cost.

Seward developed the bag in response to a request by a global food giant customer, to produce a sterile blender bag that would help solve a number of problems it was facing in their food testing processes. Using innovative technology, Seward was able to develop a bag that was robust enough to withstand both the physical demands of the blending action and subsequent autoclaving.

An extensive evaluation at the company showed that Seward’s new autoclavable Stomacher^® bag reduced processing times and labor costs by eliminating the need to double bag samples before autoclaving. In addition, this meant a significant reduction in the amount of single-use plastic used during the process.

The company has estimated that using the new Stomacher bag in only one site will save almost $31k annually, due to reduced need for materials and a saving of over two hrs a day in processing time, and also use 1,100 Kg less plastic each year.*

“Using single-use plastic is not only detrimental to the environment, but it also is costly, and as a business, Seward is always striving for ways to reduce, re-use or recycle wherever possible,” said Stuart Ray, Seward’s Technical Director. “In microbiology testing, we aren’t yet able to eliminate all single-use plastic, however, we knew there must be a way of reducing it. I’m happy to say that the new Stomacher bag has surpassed our expectations”.

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