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Plastics are a Sustainable Packaging Choice

Sustainable Packaging – By Gayle S. Putrich,

Six major categories of plastic packaging significantly reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions compared to packaging made with alternative materials, according to a new study.

Compiled by Franklin Associates for the American Chemistry Council and the Canadian Plastics Industry Association, and using 2010 as a baseline year, the data shows replacing plastic packaging with alternative materials would result in a 4.5 times more packaging weight, an 80 percent increase in energy use and 130 percent more global warming potential.

“The benefits hold up across a range of different kinds of applications and materials,” said Keith Christman, managing director of plastics markets for ACC. “Because plastics use so much less material in the first place it results in dramatic greenhouse gas reduction, and that’s just the start. It really adds up across the different types of packaging, to the equivalent of taking more than 15 million cars off the road.”

The study pits the six major packaging resins — low density polyethylene, high density PE, polypropylene, PVC, polystyrene, expanded PS, PET — against paper, glass, steel, aluminum, textiles, rubber, and cork. It considers the implications of the materials used in caps and closures, beverage containers, other rigid containers, shopping bags, shrink wrap, and other flexible packaging in a detailed life cycle assessment. Individual studies on particular products have been done before, Christman said, on products ranging from plastic pouches vs. cans for tuna and EPS vs. paper cups. But the new study, titled Impact of Plastics Packaging on Life Cycle Energy Consumption and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the United States and Canada, is comparatively sweeping. It contains more than 50 tables and 16 charts and illustrations and examines each of the major life cycle stages for packaging: raw material production, packaging fabrication, distribution transport, post-consumer disposal and recycling.

To see the full article from PlasticsNews, click here.

Leonie Knox-Peeble Speaks About Plastic Packaging

By Alessandra Lacaita,

Plastic has grown significantly as a packaging material over the last decade. Is it still increasing its market share? Where do you identify further opportunities for greater use of plastic packaging?

With a turnover of €40 billion (2009), plastic packaging is market leader and represents nearly 40% of the total packaging market turnover. Between now and 2016, market share is forecasted to continue to grow in both the flexible and rigid packaging sectors, with the food sector being the biggest end-use sector with around 17 million tonnes forecasted for 2016 globally.

Part of the rising consumption is offset by light-weighting in rigid articles and reducing film thickness, basically doing more with less and becoming more resource efficient. In addition, the average plastic packaging weight has been reduced by 28% over the last ten years without compromising either strength or durability.

Opportunities for greater use of plastic packaging are clear in the food sector, and more specifically, for packing fruit and vegetables. Indeed, according to the European Commission, 90 mio tonnes of food are wasted each year in the EU, and if we look at Germany, for example, the largest potential for avoiding household food waste lies with vegetables (which constitute 26% of avoidable food waste) and fruit (18%).

Some may question whether more packaging is the way forward when it comes to making Europe more resource efficient; but the figures are clear: the resources required to produce food outweigh by far those needed to manufacture the packaging – and saving food should not only be among our priorities from an environmental point of view, but from an ethical one as well.
Where we do see that more effort is required is at the end-of-life: no packaging, be it plastic or other, should end up in landfills.

To see the full article from PackagingEurope, click here.

New Plastic Packaging That Removes Emissions

By BusinessGreen,

A U.K. company claims to have produced a new type of plastic packaging that not only is 100 percent recyclable, but also actively removes CO2 emissions from the atmosphere.

The new Polyair material developed by Polythene U.K. is made from sugar cane and uses photosynthesis to capture CO2 emissions and release oxygen. The company claims that for every ton of the product manufactured, 2.5 tons of CO2 will be removed.

James Woollard, managing director at Polythene U.K., said Polyair could be used in a range of products, including bags, covers, tubes, films, wraps and stretch film, and would reduce the amount of polythene waste these products generate.

“Using a bio-based material, such as Polyair, at a percentage of 60 percent in film reduces the CO2 emissions to zero even when you take into consideration the energy used for manufacturing and shipping,” he added in a statement. “Put simply, Polyair is truly the greenest material we know of.”

To see the full article from GreenBiz, click here.

Nestle Reducing Packaging

Reducing Packaging By Charlotte Eyre,

Swiss giant Nestle SA reduced the weight of its packaging by 601,147 tons over the 1991-2010 period. Out of this total saving, 34 percent was plastics and laminates.

Philippe Roulet, head of global packaging materials and training, said the use of plastics and laminates has gone down partly because of changes to water bottles. He was speaking at the Renewable Plastics conference in Amsterdam this week.

The bottle for Ozarka, a bottled water brand sold in the US, is now made with only 9.3g of resin, he said, showing a slide which demonstrated that bottles for carbonated drinks were sometimes made with more than 20g of materials.

Roulet says use of materials is not the only thing to consider in terms of making the food supply chain more sustainable.

He said Nestle has a holistic approach. To achieve this, it uses the packaging eco-design tool PIQET (Packaging Impact Quick Evaluation Tool). PIQET looks at all areas of the supply chain, comparing the environmental impact of all areas of production.

To see the full article from PlasticsNews, click here.

Coca-Cola Leans Towards Eco-Friendly Bottles

By Lara O’Reilly,

Coca-Cola is rolling out new packaging for its 500ml drinks range as part of its ambition to make all of its bottles from plant-based materials and recycled plastic by 2020.

The new PlantBottle packaging is made from up to 22.5% renewable plant-based “PET” materials and up to 25% recycled plastic. Coca-Cola claims the bottles are more environmentally friendly than their previous versions because they will reduce the company’s dependency on fossil fuels.

The bottles, which are rolling out today across the Coca-Cola, Diet Coke and Coke Zero range, will be identified with a PlantBottle logo and on-pack messaging.

The launch of the new range will be supported by print ads and advertorials across national and regional media.

Eco-designer Wayne Hemingway has also designed an umbrella, made from five plastic bottles, to support the new packaging rollout. The umbrella can be bought from Harvey Nichols from today (12 September) at an offer price of £10 when they buy a drink from the PlantBottle range.

To see the full article from MarketingWeek, click here.

Eco-Friendly Packaging Is Commercially Beneficial

By Marcus Hill,

Developing an ethical supply chain that includes sustainable packaging can bring about far-reaching business benefits. Environmental responsibility is not at odds with profitability; in fact, it can help you to build your brand, win new contracts and safeguard the business’ reputation.

Whilst the majority of food and catering businesses agree that eco packaging is a ‘nice to have’, some believe that the cost is going to be prohibitive. But environmentally friendly packaging has become significantly more affordable in recent years – ‘eco’ is no longer shorthand for ‘expensive’. The economies of scale mean that companies like London Bio Packaging are able to offer increasingly competitive prices, owing to greater demand. We are also continuing to develop new methods and materials to lower the cost of recycled and compostable packaging.

It’s not all about product cost, however –switching to recycled and compostable packaging can add real value to your business and actually make you money. In order to assess the true impact and ROI of bringing sustainability into your business, it’s necessary to look at the bigger picture.

Today’s consumers and businesses are demanding more of the companies that they spend money with. Businesses are no longer judged solely on the quality of their products and services; supply chains and corporate ethics are increasingly influencing purchasing behaviour.  And the company that you keep is just as important as the way you behave – put simply, if your suppliers are unethical, then, by association, so are you.

To see the full article from Is4Profit, click here.

Eco-Friendly Packaging Has Become A Selling Point

By Leon Kaye,

Earlier this summer in Los Angeles, Greenpeace activists unfurled a cheeky banner from the top of Mattel’s headquarters to denounce the company’s procurement of packaging materials. Testing of boxes in which Barbie dolls were packaged revealed paper fibres traced to deforested regions in Indonesia. Within a week, Mattel had pledged to change its sourcing policy and instruct its suppliers to commit to sustainable packaging. Mattel will learn from other companies that deal with a long and tangled supply chain that sustainable packaging is not only about waste diversion, but also innovation that can boost a firm’s bottom line. Companies that had long competed against each other based on product now joust for an edge based on their products’ packaging, from two-litre soft drinks bottles to laptop computers.

Consumer packaged goods (CPG) and food companies are now quick to tout the advantages that their packaging offers. Dr Pepper Snapple Group, for example, has eliminated that pesky strip from the bottom of plastic bottle caps, reduced bottleneck sizes and will decrease the amount of raw material in its bottles to create what it says will be the lightest 2-litre bottle in the beverage industry. Meanwhile Heinz has adopted the Coca-Cola plant bottle, made out of 30% cane ethanol-based plastic, for a new ketchup bottle. In Japan, a mineral water brand owned by Coca-Cola has introduced a new design that is 40% lighter, uses 30% plant-based material and easily crushes down to a size that makes it easier to transport to recycling centers.

These packaging innovations offer several advantages, among them lighter materials that reduce fuel and water consumption, decreased costs, and increased consumer awareness – which in turn could increase sales. What becomes of that packaging, however, is another story. Will municipalities accept these materials into their recycling waste stream? And will consumers bother to compost that Styrofoam alternative?

To see the full article from Guardian, click here.

Some Eco-Friendly Packaging Ideas Need Rethinking

By Maxine Perella,

The adoption of sustainable packaging strategies such as material minimization and light weighting may be doing more harm than good, experts have warned.

According to latest thinking in this field, issues of product protection and durability need to come to the fore so packaging methods can reduce both environmental impact and risk of product damage.

This means thinking beyond finding the latest sustainable material, as different materials have different properties and what might work for one product may not benefit another.

Talking to Reuters, environmental packaging advocate Joan Pierce maintains that figuring out the right kind of packaging isn’t a one-time effort for businesses.

“You can’t say that there is one material that’s better than another. You have to pick the material that’s right for your product. Focus on continuous improvement. If you do that, you’re going to be way ahead,” she advised.

This view is echoed by Dow Chemical’s global sustainability leader Jeff Wooster, who points out that cutting back on too much packaging will damage a product, representing wasted energy and natural resource loss.

“We need to think of product protection as a part of sustainability. If we waste the product … we have certainly done more harm than good,” he said.

To see the full article from Edie, click here.

Environmentally Friendly Roses

By Nazia Parveen,

For the first time, scientists have developed environmentally friendly bunches of roses which are transported without any water at the bottom of the packaging.

It’s thanks to a pioneering airtight design which takes up less space and weight in lorries – saving on fuel – as well as saving on water.

With no air, the flowers are effectively put to sleep. The blooms then wake up once the packaging is removed and they are placed in water at their destination.

Marks and Spencer, which is using the technology this Valentine’s to deliver their £22 bouquet of Fairtrade red roses, said they will save 10,000 litres of water on the day – enough for 40,000 cups of tea.

M&S already uses Modified Atmosphere Packaging to transport fruit and veg but this is the first time it has been adapted for flowers.

Flower expert Charlotte Curtis said it will help to lower the retailer’s carbon footprint. ‘It means that 25 per cent less lorries will be needed to deliver these bouquets,’ she said.

The blood-red Fairtrade roses costing £22 will be moved from depot to door with the ‘ground-breaking’ new packaging design.

To see the full article from Daily Mail, click here.

New Reusable Container System

By Rick LeBlanc,

Goplasticpallets.com has announced the addition of a new lightweight modular container to its range – one it calls a cost effective alternative to existing sleeve packs. It is easy to assemble, secure and offers customers the potential to reduce their carbon footprint.

Goplasticpallets.com, the UK’s leading independent supplier of plastic pallets and containers, now stocks the Modular Pak: a lightweight sleeve pack with three components – a nestable pallet base with secure catches, a plastic sleeve and a lid. When flat packed, the container takes up minimal space and the lid fits perfectly over the pallet, protecting the sleeve from dirt and water and promoting long term reuse.

Its low tare weight is up to 15kg less than comparable containers, making high volume distribution of goods such as lightweight packaging – for food, pharmaceuticals and automotive parts, for example  –  more economically and environmentally efficient. The space saving of its flat-pack design when empty means collection and redeployment is also made easier than with comparable boxes.

Available in 1200mm x 1000mm, the Modular Pak has four simple slide catches to secure the plastic sealed sleeve to the pallet and two deep drop-down doors which have Velcro attached to keep them closed, but when open, provide easy access to goods. Special “grab” handles in the lid allow it to be easily and quickly lifted off. It’s also possible to stand one Modular Pak on top of another – ideal for where storage space is limited. They have a low operation cost and are impact resistant, capable of carrying a 500kg dynamic load or 1000kg static load.

To see the full article from Packaging Revolution, click here.