Secondary Packaging

Packaging's contribution to social equity

Sustainable packaging is widely perceived as a three-legged stool. Packaging professionals focus a lot of attention on two of those legs, the “environmental” and the “economic.” What about the third leg, “social equity?” That’s the one that has us measure a business’s success not only in terms of profit made but also in terms of the positive impact the business has on society in general.

July 11, 2007

Business Drivers/Specialty: Page 507

Sustainable Packaging

'Greening' brings concentrated thoughts

Seven key questions to ask if you are considering packaging source reduction via concentrated reformulations.

July 9, 2007

Contract Packaging

Pharma Business Growing At Praxis

Macatawa Holdings LLC-Praxis (www.praxispackaging.com), Grand Rapids, MI, projects that pharmaceutical orders will account for 90% of its overall business in 2007. The pharmaceutical industry always has been a large portion of the company’s customer base, but this year pharmaceuticals sales are expected to exceed all previous years’ sales in this category by 20%.

June 30, 2007

Contract Packaging

Sam's Club Packaging Principles

In the December 2006 issue, Contract Packaging discussed strategies for enhancing the value of packaging for club stores (www.packworld.com/view-22428). Amy Zettlemoyer, director of packaging for Sam’s Club, expands on that article by identifying five packaging principles that consumer packaged goods companies and their vendors, including contract packagers, should keep in mind:

June 30, 2007

Flexibles

Recycled films

Klöckner Pentaplast has partnered with Packaging 2.0 LLC to introduce SmartCycle™ 150 PETE films.

June 12, 2007

Contract Packaging

CP 07 focuses on maximizing relationships

Event is Sept. 10-12. High-level speakers to examine contract packaging trends from both the buyer and seller perspectives.

June 11, 2007

Sustainable Packaging

Sustainability news & events

n San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors voted in March to become the first U.S. city to ban plastic bags from large supermarkets. Under the legislation, large supermarkets and drugstores will not be allowed to offer plastic bags made from petroleum products. Backers said the ban would annually save 450,000 gallons of oil and divert 1,400 tons of debris from area landfills. The new rules would, however, allow recyclable plastic bags. News reports say that Mayor Gavin Newsom is expected to sign the bill into law.

June 11, 2007

Sustainability

New plastics data in the U.S. LCI database

Within a matter of days, important new data sets will be available in the U.S. LCI (Life Cycle Inventory) Database. The data will include all steps from “cradle to resin” for nine common plastic resins (HDPE, LDPE, LLDPE, PP, HIPS, GPPS, PVC, ABS, PET) and two polyurethane polyols. These materials are commonly used in packaging systems as well as in durable products (for example, building products such as insulation).

June 11, 2007

Flexibles

A global perspective on sustainable packaging from kraft foods

The recently redesigned PET-based bottles for Kraft’s Crystal Light and Fruit2O brands (pictured) are 18 percent lighter than the bottles they are replacing. Following the completion of the phased introduction of the new bottles in the U.S., Kraft will reduce its PET usage by 8.7 million pounds per year.

June 11, 2007

Contract packaging

The wrap-up: All in a day's work

Reader inquiries are an interesting part of a packaging editor's workweek.

May 31, 2007

Sustainable Packaging

The truth behind Wal-Mart's green makeover

Despite the inflammatory title, this is actually a pretty favorable article on a rather left-leaning website.

May 31, 2007

Sustainable Packaging

Cheers to UK brewer upon environmental award win

Adnams, a mid-sized brewer in England, won the top prize in the carbon Trust Innovation Awards this year.

May 31, 2007

Sustainable Packaging

In United States, FDA issues final report on 2006 spinach E.coli outbreak

The final report was issued by the FDA regarding the E.coli contaminated spinach outbreak last fall. While the investigation originally focused on a California processing and packaging plant, the final report traced the E.coli back to one of the fields where the spinach was grown.

May 31, 2007