11.07.07
Posted in Environmental Packaging at 2:38 am by Administrator
We all know that the cost of anything associated with “Green” or Sustainable packaging has a higher cost than traditional ethylene products. The challenge is to show through cost analysis that the overall impact of “Green” packaging can be made into a positive. Look at things like competitive advantage, energy usage, disposal fees, brand image, etc. Yes you have to dig deeper to justify this type of packaging but it can be done.
Why is it so high? The old adage of supply and demand with a little greed put in there for good measure. If companies were truly green advocates they could offer their raw materials to converters at a more reasonable price. I am not saying give the farm away, but make the packaging more attractive to the masses.
What are your thoughts on the subject of the cost of “Green” packaging?
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11.05.07
Posted in Environmental Packaging at 11:50 pm by Administrator
When we speak of PLA and biodegradable plastics you have to, in the same breath, talk about composting. This composting is not your generic backyard version but an industrial composting. The question is…”How do we inform the public that plastic is not always plastic and has to be separated?”.
The dilemma is to create a large enough market for compostable plastics to where the general public will recognize it from the ordinary polyethylene packaging. I read in a recent trade magazine that the fear is that the market segment will not grow fast enough and the confusion will be the death of bioplastics in mainstream packaging.
How do we convey the message? Is it through the media? What about branding or symbols? I know BPI (www.bpiworld.org) has a logo that designates compostability. Is this the answer? Being in the packaging design business it is difficult to make sure that the consumer can EASILY make ther right choice when disposing of a particular medium.
What are you thoughts on this subject?
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11.02.07
Posted in Environmental Packaging at 11:00 pm by Administrator
GM (genetically modified) resins such as the corn used for PLA in the US is taboo. I personally do not see all the fuss. These crops are not raised for human consumption but for plastic resin. If a GM plant can produce significantly more starch or sugars why not use it and get a better yield. There is an uproar about using the corn supply for resin in the first place because there is a concern it will take away from the world’s food supply and yet when there are attempts to boost the yield on corn that is used for resin manufacture, which would mean less corn used, there is also an uproar. You cannot have it both ways.
I was reading in a trade magazine today where a high end grocery chain will not use PLA solely because it is made from GM corn. I am stumped. This makes no sense. When is someone going to see how illogical this approach is?
I would like to have your thoughts on this subject. Back up your comments.
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11.01.07
Posted in Environmental Packaging at 10:17 pm by Administrator
I was doing my usual morning news reading on the Internet and on www.foxnews.com they had a video promoting Newt Gingrich’s new book. As with his infamous “Contract with America” when he was Speaker of the House, which laid out steps to follow to get the political house back in order, this book lays out steps to get the Environment back in order.
Here is an excerpt form the book: “Americans know that shaping a healthy environment is the one challenge that eclipses all others. Without a green and productive Earth, Clean air to breath, and healthy streams, rivers, lakes, and oceans, life as we know it cannot survive. But where is America’s environmental playbook?” I have not had a chance to read the book yet, but plan on picking it up this weekend at Books a Million. I am glad that we can get a conservatives view of the global warming issue that can balance out the views of Al Gore in “The Inconvenient Truth”.
A piece of the plan will be to conserve and have a sustainable mindset in whatever we do. This includes packaging. How do we balance the Environment, Economics and Social aspects to attain sustainability? If one or the other is out of kilter sustainability cannot be achieved.
After reading the book, I will post a review. Another good book on how going “Green” can be profitable for your business is…”Green to Gold”
A challenge to even the hardnosed environmentalists…Read the book and make post your comments.
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10.31.07
Posted in Environmental Packaging at 8:25 pm by Administrator
When discussing “Green” packaging and the “Green” movement as a whole, you have to be weary of companies that “Greenwash”. This is the rouge of presenting a product that does not actually meet the standards for which it is intended or businesses promoting themselves as “Green” when in actuality they are not.
Taken from Wikipedia:
Greenwash (a portmanteau of green and whitewash) is a term that is used to describe the actions of a company, government, or other organization which advertises positive environmental practices while acting in the opposite way. The term came into use in the early 1990s, most notably as the title of an article in the 1991 March/April issue of Mother Jones magazine.
The term is generally used when significantly more money or time has been spent advertising being green (that is, operating with consideration for the environment), rather than spending resources on environmentally sound practices. This is often portrayed by changing the name or label of a product, to give the feeling of nature, for example putting an image of a forest on a bottle of harmful chemicals. Environmentalists often use greenwashing to describe energy companies, which are traditionally the largest polluters. [1]
When dealing with packaging, it is most important to understand the application, the environment in which it will be used and the ultimate disposal method. Any one of these that are not considered will lead to the perception of “greenwashing” for the simple fact that you are not diligent enough to sell the customer the right product. Your knowledge and level of expertise will be questioned along with the obvious fact that you are not helping the environment as you are promoting through the sale. If all you want is the sale then you are “Greenwashing”.
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10.30.07
Posted in Environmental Packaging at 11:14 pm by Administrator
I have been trying for months to get a handle on the size of the “Green” packaging market to no avail. There is data on the overall plastics market but non-specific to “Green” packaging. An article in Forbes stated that they have not found a good measure of the size of the market.
To justify spending resources on this area and gathering the data necessary to create a business plan, the fundamental data needed is market economies of scale.
My challenge to you is to find good data and post it here. By doing this you give the area of “Green” packaging an additional boost.
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10.29.07
Posted in Environmental Packaging at 10:35 pm by Administrator
In today’s environment there are a lot of different opinions about “Green” packaging. There is the 3″R”s approach…Reduce…Reuse…Recycle, which has been around since the 89’s. And now today there is the “Green” approach to packaging. Packaging with Post Consumer Reclaim (PCR) content, Degradable Packaging, Biodegradable Packaging, Compostable Packaging and Sustainable Packaging.
I am working very diligently trying to figure out what the marketplace is really wanting. It seems that there is still that sticky problem of price. Even with the price of oil and gas souring there is still a huge price disparity between conventional fossil fuel based bags and “Green” packaging. How do we combat this? Well, the recent Government mandates, whether right or wrong, has made “”Green” packaging more attractive. The media has it on the front page, which awakens the consumer and corporate entities to the idea. I think that the wave of interest could be sustainable this time.
What are you comments on “Green” packaging in general and plastics in particular?
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09.21.06
Posted in HDPE-LDPE-LLDPE, Materials at 11:23 pm by Administrator
HDPE - High Density polyethylene…the workhorse of plastics. We use this material in everything from milk jugs to park benches. It is the most widely used resin in the industry. It can be blended with many other resins to change its physical properties. Its flexure temperature is around 220 deg F. with an extrusion temperature of 350 to 450 deg F. This resin can be injection molded, extruded in to tubing and film, it can be cast extruded, thermoformed, vacuum formed and among other methods. The colors are unlimited and the shape is only set by the imagination. There are additives to make it degradable, it has a good resistance to MVT and is great to be used in the freezer…not causing freezer burn during food storage.
In packaging it is used as a monolayer film or as an integral layer to a co extruded or laminated film; providing additional barrier properties warranted by the application. it is not transparent in its natural extruded form but ther are HDPE resins available that do have a high degree of clarity. Its tensile and dart strength is fantastic compared to other resins with weakness in elongation. The recycling symbol for this resin is “2″ and is verily easily reclaimed and recycled in a closed loop standard recycling system.
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09.20.06
Posted in Sustainable and Biodegradable, Materials at 10:31 pm by Administrator
I have been in this business for almost 23 years. Sustainable and degradable products have been around for most of my career. There have been additives that gave the film a reddish hue to the claim that calcium carbonate was the answer.
What is the real driver this time? Is it the oil prices that are waking people up the idea again or is it the wish to hug a tree again? I see the government is finally taking a look at these items and are, in some cases, mandating their use for certain government agencies. This initiative is coming from the Agricultural side trying to help out the farmers.
I have been testing and experimenting with most all of the additives that break down the ethylene and now with PLA and PLA/polyester blends. Most are ready for market but the price is still too high for it to get into wide distribution. Supply and demand dictate pricing at this point and until there is more emphasis put on the supply side it probably will still be a number of years before we see it replacing your t-shirt bag at Wal-Mart®. The focus to date has been in the rigid container market, leaving us flexible guys to wonder when we get our chance. There are a few producers of film but again their supply is limited and the price is out of reach of the mass users of our products. Again, what is the driver? I see that there is a new report our that can be purchased to look at market dynamics, which if anyone has this your comments would be appreciated. I am excited about the possibilities but fear that if fossil fuel prices continue to dip the interest will decline.
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09.18.06
Posted in Legislation of interest at 9:14 pm by Administrator
On August 30, 2006 California passed a mandatory recycling law (AB 2449) that includes plastic bags used in grocery and retail establishments larger than 10,000 sq. ft. Along with requiring stores to maintain recycling bins, it is the responsibility of the manufacture to develop materials to educate their respective customers about recycling and the program that was established. Also the stores have to provide durable bags such as cloth or heavy gauge bags that will be able to be reused.
On the surface this may seem like a good thing but the problem is that there is not sufficient infrastructure to develop a program around and to date recycling of post consumer waste has not found a good business model to make it truly profitable.
The PBA (Progressive Bag Alliance) made up of the four large bag manufacturers were backers of the bill but they appear to have a vested interest. They have already developed programs and written materials to promote recycling that they can market to other manufacturers and stores.
I do support recycling and see its benefits. What would be nice is to see a consorted effort to educate the public and spend our resources developing the infrastructure and the methods to efficiently recycle those items that are deemed necessary. This is in contrast to a mandate from government to do so.
I believe that if you go into a grocery store and they try to give you one bag for every item, it is a matter of education. Not the consumer at that point but the grocer. Either educate them of the pack-out that the bag can hold or suggest a smaller bag. Both will solve the problem and reduce plastic usage significantly.
Another thing is that just by setting up the bins and educating the public we expect them to use the program. Most of us do something if it brings benefit to us. This to me could be seen as a inconvenience…there has to be some reward, at least at first. Do you want to have to remember to bring your own bags to the store and calculate how many you need? Looks to me like it is just another potential cost for the customer is they forgot their bags. Along with no reward for the customer there is no consequence if the customer does not follow the recycling programs.
Look, as usual, the spirit of the effort is grand but the execution lacks any teeth.
What is your opinion?
To learn more about the law go to: http://www.plasticsindustry.org/public/legreg/cabagrecycling.htm
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