Want to quantify how green a package is in a standardized, scientific way? There are tools available for companies to measure greenness. One company that did just that was Microsoft Corp., Redmond, WA. Office 2001 for Macintosh was introduced in October 2000 in a reclosable, plastic “clamshell” that replaced prior boxed versions that contained booklets (see packworld/go/c001). The back half of the clamshell is made of 100% postconsumer recycled content. The comparison of the old and new packaging was accomplished by Microsoft’s packaging vendor using a sophisticated methodology from Europe that resulted in a numerical value, the Eco-Indicator. EI represents the sum of the life-cycle assessment (LCA) or analysis of the various components. The components were identified by raw materials that were weighed and scored per EI numbers using guidelines developed for each type of material such as paper or a specific polymer. For Office 2001, the EI combined packaging and contents. The EI was 1.82, representing a 54% reduction in the environmental impact from the Office 98 version’s EI (see accompanying graphic). Cited for ‘bravery’ “It’s wonderful that companies are brave enough to do this,” says Philip White, chair of the Environmental Responsibility section of the Industrial Designers Society of America. He estimates that about 10% of the 500 IDSA members in the ER section are involved in packaging. Though developed for product analysis, LCAs such as EI work equally well for packaging, according to White. “LCAs are increasingly being used by product designers and packaging designers as a way to compare and reduce environmental impacts,” he says. “In the United States, I feel that there’s a high reluctance to develop any kind of LCA standards. As a result, there aren’t any standards, but there is a lot of confusion.” Meanwhile, he suggests packagers can use EI or other LCA methodology as a tool to help identify the elements that create the greatest environmental impact and address those issues. “This is the wave of the future,” White notes. For further information on environmentally friendly design tools and related topics, check the IDSA’s environmental responsibility section, www.idsa.org/whatsnew/sections/ecosection. White also says packagers can look to LCA standards found in ISO Series 14040. There’s even software that can perform the LCA calculations. From a firm in the Netherlands, the product has been upgraded with North American data. Further information can be found at the Web site www.pre.nl/ecodesign/default.htm.
See the story that goes with this sidebar: Packagers share green thoughts
