In just one day—today, to be precise—my radar screen lit up with countless messages all dealing with one piece or another of the sustainable packaging puzzle.
First there was a reminder that the European Bioplastics Conference takes place in Berlin November 10-11. It’s the fourth rendition of this event, and more than 250 participants are expected. I wish the event’s Web site included a link to the program. I’d like to see what subject will be tackled by one Cees van Dongen. Based in Brussels, he currently serves as director of strategic planning environment & water for the European Union Group and leads Coke’s initiatives in the area of PET collection and bottle-to-bottle recycling. Something tells me I won’t be in Berlin November 10-11, so remind me to give Mr. van Dongen a shout. I’d like to know more about Coke’s plans for biopolymers.
Also landing on my laptop was news from NAPCOR (National Association of PET Container Resources) by way of Plastics News.com. It was kind of a good news/bad news thing. The amount of PET bottles recycled increased for the sixth straight year in 2008 to more than 1.45 billion pounds. But these numbers mask what PlasticsNews.com calls “troubling trends,” including the fact that domestic PET recyclers used only 42.4% of the PET collected in the U.S. The rest went to export markets, mainly China.
Finally, Biopack, a Hong Kong-based firm that has been successfully manufacturing sustainable packaging for the retail and fresh food sectors for more than a decade, now offers compostable trays for use in product applications in which moisture resistance is required over a longer period of time. According to Businesswire.com, product applications include large market segments such as frozen food and entrees, ready-made meals, fresh and frozen meat, cut fruit and vegetables, baked goods, and seafood. Interest in these 100% biodegradable trays made of sugar cane waste called “bagasse” is said to be strong and growing.
