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Marking and coding trends at NPE revealed
 Mark Beauregard (left) and Dean Hornsby represented Matthews
Marking Products at the NPE 2009 International Plastics Exposition the
week of June 22 in Chicago.
Packaging World Editor Pat Reynolds caught
up with them in the Press Room to ask about marking and coding trends
they were hearing about at NPE. Hear what they had to say about higher
speeds needed for ink-jet marking of blown film, laser coding of out-of-mold parts, unique serialization of molded parts for track and
trace purposes, and advances in fiber and CO 2 lasers coding technology. Listen to the Podcast.
Sustainable packaging—many ways to make meaningful progress
 Coca-Cola, Sara Lee, and ConAgra are putting a lot of thought into sustainable packaging initiatives. Consider these ideas as you ponder your own carbon footprint.
The Coca-Cola Company announced plans to use a new plastic bottle made partially from plants. According to information from the company, the new PlantBottle™ is fully recyclable, has a lower reliance on a nonrenewable resource, and reduces carbon emissions, compared with petroleum-based PET plastic bottles.
"The PlantBottle is a significant development in sustainable packaging innovation," says Muhtar Kent, chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company. "It builds on our legacy of environmental ingenuity and sets the course for us to realize our vision to eventually introduce bottles made with materials that are 100-percent recyclable and renewable."
The new bottle, made from a blend of petroleum-based materials and up to 30% plant-based materials, is made through a process that turns sugar cane and molasses into a key component for PET plastic. Coca-Cola is also exploring the use of other plant materials for future generations of the PlantBottle.
According to Coca-Cola, manufacturing the new plastic bottle is more environmentally efficient as well. A life-cycle analysis conducted by the Imperial College of London indicates the PlantBottle reduces carbon emissions by up to 25%, compared with petroleum-based PET. The PlantBottle can also be processed through existing manufacturing and recycling facilities without contaminating traditional PET. So, the material in the PlantBottle can be used, recycled, and reused again and again.
Coca-Cola North America will pilot the PlantBottle with Dasani and sparkling brands in select markets later this year and with VitaminWater in 2010. The bottles will be identified through on-package messages and in-store point of sale displays. Web-based communications will also highlight the bottle's environmental benefits.
 Sara Lee's green goals
Packaging World senior editor Anne Marie Mohan recently conducted an exclusive interview with Glen Ventrell, director of packaging innovation and development for Sara Lee Corp. Her's an excerpt from that interview:
PW: Can you share an example of a package that was developed or redesigned to be more sustainable?
Ventrell: Sure. One example is the Hillshire Farms lunchmeat in a tub. Last October, we reduced the height of the tub by 3⁄16 of an inch. It doesn't sound like much. When we first talked about it, most people said, "What does 3⁄16 of an inch really mean?" It means quite a bit when you think about it differently.
The reason we reduced the height of the tub by 3⁄16 of an inch was because we were trying to figure out how to make that package more sustainable after talking with some of our customers. We backed into that number by asking ourselves, "How can we get more packages onto a truck?" What that did for us was it added one more layer per pallet, and the pallets are double-stacked. So that's equivalent to something like 60 more layers per truck, which took about 900 trucks off the road a year. It also took out of the system about 6,500 pallets, and it reduced the amount of plastic used by about 625,000 pounds, the amount of fuel used by more than 79,000 pounds, and the amount of corrugated by more than 630,000 pounds.
I would say that is one of the things that has changed about designing for sustainability. People were always looking at the front end of design, at the primary selling unit. When you start looking at it from both ends, sometimes you come up with some pretty big sustainability savings. You need to look at it from the truck going backwards, as opposed to looking at it from the container going forwards...Read More.
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