Sustainability in Packaging 2012 starts next week!

More than 250 of the key players in the packaging industry, including PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, McDonald’s, The Coca-Cola Company and Hewlett Packard, will be sharing their experiences at Sustainability in Packaging 2012. This year’s event will take place March 12-14 at the Omni ChampionsGate in Orlando, Florida, USA and will focus on driving innovation through the supply chain.

Green Packaging Forum readers and LinkedIn group members can still qualify for the Early Bird conference fee by using the code GreenPackFor when registering online at www.sustainability-in-packaging.com. This offer is not retroactive and cannot be used for onsite registrations.

“Sustainability continues to be a challenging and yet exciting area for innovation across the entire packaging supply chain,” says Alan Blake, Procter & Gamble, Corporate Packaging Development Sustainability and Conference Advisory Board Member. “The Sustainability in Packaging conference offers the opportunity to hear about success stories, to share ideas with an outstanding panel of speakers and to connect with a broad group of industry representatives.”

The 2012 program will provide insight into what companies are doing to communicate the sustainability of the packaging to the consumer; give updates on initiatives from around the world including the Global Packaging Project and EPR and offer opportunities for discussion on the latest developments in alternative materials and technologies with the key practitioners and get first-hand feedback from early users.

Other organizations presenting at Sustainability in Packaging 2012 include AMERIPEN, HAVI Global Solutions, Nestlé Research Center, RMIT University, S.C. Johnson, TerraChoice, The Sustainability Consortium, UC Berkeley, Haas School of Business and the WWF. Attendees will also hear from the American Chemistry Council, the Better Business Bureau, Big Room Inc., Braskem America, Inc., Brooks Sports, Can Manufacturers Institute, Ecole Polytechnique, Ecologic Brands, Inc., Ecovative Design LLC, Flint Group, Georgia-Pacific, Henkel, Interbrand, Krones AG, Michigan State University, MicroGREEN Polymers Inc., NextLife, Octal, Packaging Digest, PAC NEXT, Placon, RecycleMatch, Replenish Bottling, Sonoco Packaging, StewardEdge USA Inc., Tetra Pak, The Dow Chemical Company, The Gillette Company, The Shelton Group, Tonejet Limited, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Whole Foods Market and WRAP.

Visit www.sustainability-in-packaging.com for complete information and to register.

With Sunrise Packaging, The Future is Green

An increased pursuit of green packaging came naturally to Sunrise Packaging, a packaging manufacturer from the Minneapolis area in MN. In 2008, they recognized that the demand for green packaging would continue to grow and be the way of the future. The Twin Cities packaging manufacturer decided to increase their corporate sustainability efforts as well as expand their eco-friendly product line.

The company is Anoka County’s (MN) top recycler and has a true passion for reducing waste, not only for looming environmental concerns, but because it also made perfect business sense. By reducing waste and operating more efficiently, Sunrise Packaging is able to save money on Read the rest of this entry »

Reducing Global Warming Potential: A Study Comparing Static Intercept(R) and Traditional Metalized Shield Bags

Liberty Packaging announces proven benefits of Static Intercept packaging via Bell Labs’ study: “This paper had demonstrated the environmental benefits packaging can have on the storage, shipment, and protection of sensitive electronic components—a 40 fold reduction in GWP (global warming potential). The benefits are shown to be present throughout the entire product lifecycle, but most noticeably in the use phase where the superior protection qualities of the Static Intercept bag are multiplied into environmental benefits.”

Braintree, MA (Vocus/PRWEB) December 10, 2010

Static Intercept Protects Electronics - Photo by Engineered Materials, Inc.

 Liberty Packaging announces proven benefits of Static Intercept packaging via Bell Labs’ study: “This paper had demonstrated the environmental benefits packaging can have on the storage, shipment, and protection of sensitive electronic components—a 40 fold reduction in GWP (global warming potential). The benefits are shown to be present throughout the entire product lifecycle, but most noticeably in the use phase where the superior protection qualities of the Static Intercept bag are multiplied into environmental benefits.”

A recently released Bell Labs white paper entitled “Reducing Environmental Impact and Increasing Reliability Through Packaging: A Lifecycle Assessment Approach” by authors and scientists John P. Franey, Thomas A. Okrasinski, and William J. Schaeffer, Sr. compare the Global Warming Potential (GWP) between Liberty Packaging’s Static Intercept bag and the traditional metalized shielding bag. Read the rest of this entry »

PE Foam Just Got Friendlier

Nomaco Engineered Foam Solutions (EFS), the industry leader in custom polyethylene foam profile extrusions, has recently introduced NOMAGREEN^TM, the first biodegradable polyethylene foam in the market. NOMAGREEN is a proprietary formulation which is unique to the market because it combines the excellent performance of standard PE foam with the added value of biodegradability once the product is discarded into microbe-rich environment, such as a landfill. No longer will companies have to sacrifice performance over environmental friendliness when choosing a packaging material. Furthermore, and most importantly, NOMAGREEN performs exactly like standard PE foam. Also, cushion curve testing has shown it has no performance loss when compared with standard PE foam. NOMAGREEN has an indefinite shelf-life and it is not affected negatively by moisture, heat, light or mechanical stress.  The biodegradation process is initiated by microbes that are only found in landfills; therefore no biodegradation will occur until the foam is placed in that environment. Independent laboratory testing has also shown that NOMAGREEN biodegrades at a rate significantly faster than standard PE foam. As with standard PE foam, NOMAGREEN remains recyclable and reusable.  Read the rest of this entry »

Packsize International LLC is the world’s leading provider of on-demand packaging systems for businesses with complex corrugated packaging needs. Packsize delivers an alternative to the existing corrugated supply chain with “Right-sized Packaging on Demand®” which eliminates the need for large inventories of pre-ordered cardboard boxes, reducing the packaging “footprint,” and trimming the work content required for boxing and shipping. Every Packsize system ever built is still in use today and no customer has ever made the decision to go back to buying boxes conventionally.

The Packsize solution resolves inventory and shipping complexities through the ability to create a custom-sized box for every order. This efficient and cost-effective, just-in-time packaging system increases total savings by up to 20 percent. A leading sustainable business practice, Right-sized Packaging on Demand™ results in less waste, lower shipping costs, decreased damage rates, and increased customer satisfaction.  Read the rest of this entry »

Phase change materials or PCMs have large amounts of heat stored in the form of latent heat.  This heat is absorbed or released when the materials change phase from solid to liquid or vice versa.  The release and absorption of heat occur at a constant temperature which is advantageous for maintaining temperatures of goods that are shipped long distances and/or in extreme climates.  savENRG PCM based cold chain refrigerants are a safe and sustainable way to deliver temperature sensitive products.

 savENRG PCM packs are made from salt hydrates and are non-toxic and non-flammable.  These are encapsulated in HDPE bottles (food grade plastic) filled with PCM of appropriate temperature, ranging from -23 degrees Celsius to +34 degrees Read the rest of this entry »