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Sustainable PET film forms 'tented-blister' three-pack

Soap products company strives to keep environment clean with innovative multi-pack structure.

Pw 8162 Method Final Pack Lg

When San Francisco-based Method Home Products develops a new product, the company gives careful consideration to the environmental impact of the selected packaging. In fact, the people at Method are so ardent about sustainable packaging that they have worked with custom-thermoformed protective packaging specialist Universal Protective Packaging, Inc. (UPPI) (www.uppi.com) to create sustainable packaging using SmartCycle™ 150 PET films.

These films come to the marketplace by way of Michael Brown, founder and managing partner of Packaging 2.0 LLC (www.packaging2.com), which holds the SmartCycle trademark. The films are processed with renewable energy and guaranteed to contain a minimum content of 50% post-consumer recycled polyester bottles. Klöckner Pentaplast (www.kpfilms.com) is the exclusive global supplier of SmartCycle film and sheet in partnership with Packaging 2.0 LLC.

Founded in 2001, Method makes all kinds of cleaning products, using only biodegradable ingredients. Jokes Method’s packaging director Ted Wang, “You could drink our spray cleaner and not die, but I wouldn’t recommend it. We strike a balance between efficacy and the environment, while providing a healthy alternative to the ‘big boys.’ We’ve identified a need for a younger, hipper product with a look that appeals to people such as new moms.”

Indeed, to achieve that hipper look, the company employs the talents of award-winning industrial designer Karim Rashid, who has more than 70 objects included in permanent museum collections around the world. From its products to the package design, Method works to convey a “clean” image.

“So it made sense to use SmartCycle when we got this new gig from Costco to package our three varieties of foaming hand-wash soap in a pack,” says Wang. The three varieties are Eucalyptus Mint, Green Tea, and Sweet Water. They are contained in 10-oz slender bell-shaped bottles with plunger dispensers. The average retail price is less than $2 per bottle.

For three years, Costco had been stocking Method’s original three-pack hand-wash gel. But the foaming hand wash is a more recent product release, and both Costco and Method wanted to change the look of the original. The new outer package for the foaming hand-wash three-packs looks like a clamshell with the film substrate hugging the bottles.

But a side view reveals it’s a stand-up triangle. Tim Ritter at thermoformer UPPI puts it this way: “The packaging is a tented blister, like a teepee. The bottom is open. The plastic clamshell surrounds the three bottles with a hinge that folds over at a 330-degree angle. The blister snaps over the bottles at the top and acts as a convenient carrying handle. This way, the packaging is minimized, presenting a clean image with little waste.”

Explains Ted Wang, “We want to be part of the solution. The blister is not sealed, but rather wrapped in recycled paperboard that is glued.” The paperboard is printed and wraps around the package. It has die-cut holes so the consumer can see the attractive colors of the foaming hand wash.

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