Green Packaging: The Big Green Picture
For labels and other paper needs, Natural Source Printing offers a tree-less material called FiberStone.
Going the Extra Mile for a Sustainable Packaging Industry
By Amy C. QuickFor too long, packaging has signified waste. Thanks to a growing global movement toward holding ourselves responsible for the trash we create and where it ends up, the packaging industry is redefining itself.
Manufacturers are not only making the shift to sustainable packaging; they're looking beyond their own walls, holding themselves accountable for the companies they partner with. Each person involved in the packaging industry is liable in some way for ensuring the “greening” of a package from beginning to end. So what moves are responsible companies beginning with?
Considering the Alternatives
The use of corn-based polylactide polymer (PLA) continues to gain popularity, despite the misgivings of some who take issue with the farming practices of its feedstock. Though the current horticulture of corn for PLA makes a big impact on the earth, the resulting resin has near-miraculous properties (such as clarity and stability with reduced weight) and the plastic it creates has been touted as the most sustainable on earth. The compostable, recyclable material is used to create everything from compacts and lipstick containers to clamshell packaging, shrink film, and labels.
Sevi Organics (Baltimore, MD) foregoes petroleum-based labels for its line of skin care products. Instead, the company uses labels made from PLA supplied by NatureWorks, the world's largest producer of PLA. Not only does PLA's manufacturing process release fewer greenhouse gases, “the labels can be recycled and composted in industrialized facilities,” says Ashley Kay, Sevi's public relations coordinator. “Once composted, they break down after 47 days into carbon dioxide, water, and humus.”
Branching out from PLA, Cereplast (Hawthorne, CA) has created resins from renewable building blocks that include starches made of corn, wheat, tapioca, and potatoes. Not only do Cereplast's Compostables and Hybrid Resins products mimic the properties of traditional plastic resins, in some cases, they excel. The resins respond well to printing and color, and continue to improve performance at freezing conditions and at higher temperatures, according to Randy Woelfel, Cereplast's president and COO. The bonus? “With the price of oil at over $120 a barrel, Cereplast resins are cost-competitive with traditional plastic resins and, in some cases, less expensive,” he says.
Cotton, bamboo, sugarcane, and vellum are all materials standing in for traditional paper for cartons, displays, and brochures. Limestone, or calcium carbonate, is a material being used by some companies to create tree-free paper. Chameleon, the environmental division of packaging supplier Design & Source Productions Inc. (New York City) has, for the past four years, offered a tree-free paper called TerraSkin, made from limestone instead of wood pulp. The paper will begin to degrade when exposed to direct sunlight for approximately six to nine months.
The limestone for TerraSkin is collected as waste material from existing construction-industry quarries. The paper uses no water, trees, acid, or bleach in its production and is manufactured using less energy than traditional paper production. To prove its effects on the environment, TerraSkin was also Cradle to Cradle certified using McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry testing.
In January of this year, Natural Source Printing (Orange, CA) introduced its line of FiberStone papers, also made from limestone. According to information on Natural Source Printing's Web site, FiberStone paper is made using a “clean production process, which does not utilize water or emit toxic air.” The paper is free of bleach and acid as well. Company president Mary Loyer stated in a recent press release that FiberStone papers have a carbon footprint that is “at least one-third that of virgin paper, and half that of recycled paper.”
Traditional paper is still in use, but packagers are aware of the importance of sourcing from green-friendly entities. Mary Van, owner of the Mineralogie cosmetic brand (Dallas), ensures that all paper used to produce her cosmetic boxes is harvested from loggers certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). An FSC-certified paper mill processes the pulp into paper, and her distributor and printer are also FSC certified.
Postconsumer recyclate (PCR) has become so common in packaging it's rare to find a company that does not use at least a small percentage of recycled materials in its packaging. “Roughly eight percent of the world's fossil fuels are used to produce new plastics,” says Patricia Bazan Garrubbo, cofounder of natural skin care company Terralina (New York City). “Increasing recycling rates and reducing the production of virgin plastic is an important part of solving the climate crisis.”
The purity of Terralina's natural skin-care line is reflected in its 100-percent PCR bottles, as well as its ingredients.
The sleek bottles that hold Terralina's high-end lotion, facial toner, and cleanser are created from 100% recycled and recyclable plastic milk jugs and water bottles.
Garrubbo admits that her company's environmentally sound practices cost more money in the short term, but that such efforts are “essential” to her health-conscious luxury brand. “Sustainable packaging matches the integrity and purity of the ingredients on the inside,” says Garrubo.
Thinking Outside the Box
Beyond standard primary and secondary packaging, sustainable materials are coloring other aspects of the packaging process.
For its Apple Refining Mask and all of its other products, Zia Natural Skincare's 50-percent PCR packaging is created with wind power. Labels are printed with soy ink.
Zia Natural Skincare (New York City) creates all of its sales materials from recycled materials. Terralina features 100% PCR in its stationery and gift boxes. Both Sevi Organics and Terralina use bio-based packing “peanuts” to ship their products. Such peanuts can be made from potato starch (dissolved in water by the consumer after use), or biodegradable corn. Recycled-content peanuts are also available.
Refill and Reuse
In a perfect world, consumers would exhibit as much moral responsibility as the companies pioneering the green movement. To nudge customers in that direction, reusable and refillable primary packages are hitting the shelves in greater numbers, thanks to packaging suppliers.
World Wide Packaging's new custom tube makes customer refills easy with its large orifice.
World Wide Packaging (Florham Park, NJ) recently released a 35-mm custom tube with an unusually large orifice that enables easy refilling of the product by the consumer. The Packaging Company (Long Beach, CA) manufactures a cosmetic compact with removable magnetic pans. The consumer can use the same compact for years, replacing the cosmetic pans whenever needed.
Less Is More
Whatever material is used to create a product's packaging, the end goal should be less of it. Lighter, smaller, flatter packages mean less space needed in the delivery vehicle, room for more packages, and fewer trips needed for a shipment.
Natralock Security Packaging from MeadWestvaco (Richmond, VA) uses 50 to 60% less plastic than standard clamshell packages. Saving materials means saving money, but you can't argue with the sustainability factor. Lighter than petroleum-based packaging, Natralock's manufacturing process requires fewer chemicals and less energy than it takes to produce standard clamshells.
The amount of space for print on Seal-It's full-sleeve PETG label eradicates the need for an outer box or other additional packaging. (Courtesy of Seal-It, a division of Printpack, Inc.)
Seal-It, a division of Printpack Inc. (Farmingdale, NY), offers a number of green options for films, but advocates the reduction of labels in general. “We encourage our customers to consider an all-in-one shrink label combination with tamper evidence,” explains Barbara Drillings, Seal-It's marketing communications manager. “Because of the billboard area on a shrink label, outer boxes can be eliminated and all branding and product information can be placed on the shrink labels.”
The Future Is Green
Quality and cost, though still the top obstacles to bringing green packaging mainstream, are becoming less of a deterrent as companies become educated and realize how crucial their carbon footprint is to their businesses and the world at large. As beauty brands strive to meet their customers' expectations, for now they must sometimes make some concessions in favor of greener designs. As Hermann Riedelsperger, group vice president of CCL Tube (Wilkes-Barre, PA), puts it, “Those brands that choose to integrate PCR tubes into their packaging strategies understand the inherent specifications and limitations.” CCL Tube works with its customers to offset those limitations and resolve any “real or perceived PCR issues.”
Such challenges are being met with an ever-expanding green design field, promising a continued boom in sustainable packaging innovation. “There are literally thousands of patents pending for sustainable materials and products,” says Mary Loyer, president of Natural Source Printing. “The next five years are going to be like we are back in the beginning days of the Industrial Revolution.”
Growing awareness about the environmental crisis and eco-friendly options are fueling innovation. But those options should be investigated thoroughly. According to Alison von Puscendorf, director of public relations at MeadWestvaco, the practice of “greenwashing” is a legitimate concern. She believes that suppliers should shoulder some of the responsibility to sift through the hype and decide what's credible and actually makes sense for their clients.
Companies that are themselves overwhelmed by the hype and vast amount of information on what constitutes “eco-friendly” often turn to the definition set forth by the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC) on its Web site, www.sustainablepackaging.org. The SPC's defining terms were created three years ago and offer broad parameters for green packaging. President Anne Johnson acknowledges that such definitions and the solutions they are meant to invoke may not fit the needs and capabilities of every business.
Ashley Kay of Sevi Organics admits that her company does not have an expense account matching those of larger companies. She reconciles this fact by “setting small yet attainable goals for our budding enterprise and achieving them according to our budget.” One such goal reveals the underlying philosophy that is pushing the sustainable packaging movement into the next phase. “We choose companies, such as printers and Web hosts, that are committed to doing their part to protect the environment,” explains Kay.
Such simple discrimination of which vendors and customers the packaging industry chooses to work with can make the difference between going green for the marketing hype and actually making a commitment to the environment. “It's very much about tradeoffs and whom you work with upstream and downstream,” observes Johnson. “We're talking about a much more holistic approach, to make sure you're making true progress and perhaps not passing the problems along to the person next door.” Only when companies match their dedication in the manufacturing plant to their dealings outside those walls will the packaging industry truly be able to say it's gone green. The effort is well underway.
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