Honey, I shrunk the car

The duelling big fizzy pop makers are waving their latest incarnations of ‘eco’ plastics bottles like jousting poles. For them, the sharpest weapon is the one that does least harm to the environment, and most good in terms of grabbing headlines and bumping up sales figures. Packaging technologists are just part of the story behind the headlines. The very special thing about successful ‘eco-design’ is that all the little ducks need to be lined up to make a concept a reality and make fundamental change possible, no matter who is in the driving seat.

Dominic Cakebread, of beverages sector market research firm Canadean, sums up what for him are key elements in those systems and products that claim to have eco-design at their heart: “Eco-design is a process by which the primary focus of the development (or redevelopment) of new and existing packaging is placed upon minimising the impact on the environment. This involves optimising all aspects of packaging design including choice and combination of materials, shapes, colours, decoration, closure mechanisms and manufacturing and filling processes to ensure minimal use of energy and resources, but maximum performance and convenience throughout both the supply and return and recycling chains."

Just recently, PepsiCo heralded the entry of the ‘world's first plastics bottle made entirely from plant-based materials’. It is a step up from Coca-Cola’s version of a green bottle, which appeared two years ago, called the PlantBottle and made partially from plant-based materials.

The future looks orange

PepsiCo's bottle is 100% bio-based, including switchgrass, pine bark and corn husks. Looking internally for different solutions, the company is considering using orange peels, potato peels, oat hulls and other agricultural byproducts that its food businesses generate.

PepsiCo says it has identified methods to create a molecular structure that is identical to petroleum-based PET (polyethylene terephthalate), for a bottle that ‘looks, feels and protects its product identically to existing PET beverage containers’. The pilot production of the new bottle begins in 2012, and is expected then to move directly to full-scale commercialisation.

Not to be left behind, Coca-Cola with HJ Heinz Co is applying PlantBottle technology to ketchup containers. This is said to be the biggest change to the ketchup bottle since a plastics format appeared in 1983.

PepsiCo also made headlines when it launched its fully compostable SunChips bag, only to pull it off the market 18 months later due to consumer complaints that the bag was too 'noisy.' The crisps bag was recently relaunched as a ‘quieter bag’.

This ‘next generation’ bio-bag not only rid the bag of its ‘annoying crackle’, it also shows a company unprepared to give up on its aspirations, says Paul Kearns, Director of Sustainability at flexible packaging company Exopack, based in South Carolina, USA. He suspects a tactical strategy in the SunChips development: “It has set an expectation that there needs to be a change from the consumer’s point of view.”

The ploy of setting a sprat to catch a mackerel in a less than acceptable first issue of a bio-bag seems to have done the trick. It definitely caught the public’s attention and perhaps will attract back fans of SunChips.

The elements in eco-design that Exopack espouses are to use as little material as possible to get the job done, with functionality maintained; to use recycled content and renewables wherever possible; and design for the designated end of life process.

New materials, including renewables and bio-based products, are starting to gain momentum, and while their use has been held back by the cost, performance attributes are being dealt with. This, says Mr Kearns, was the key message he took away from the Biopolymers conference in Las Vegas, in February. In his view, consumer goods are ‘dabbling’ in biopolymers, launching on a ‘limited’ basis. But he predicts a changed picture for biopolymers in five years’ time.

An exemplar of eco-design in Exopack’s view, though not its own package, is a pet food bag that replaces oil-derived bag film with corn-derived film, and in percentage terms its biodegradability is in the high 90s.

But where Exopack has made progress and had success is in lightweighting via downgauging material. It has introduced a new process for laminations; and adhesives that provide more ‘give’ in the material.

Mr Kearns flags up the difficulty that packaging producers have in getting good quality, post-consumer recycled material, compared with industrial sources. Exopack’s shipping sack for industrial process salt has been made with 50% pre-consumer waste without a loss in performance. The brand owner of Cargill Salt attributes a ‘sales bump’ to the packaging, says Mr Kearns.

A shrinkfilm made with 20% recycled material from used milk jugs is also going commercial. It is fit for the job, but hazy, which is no bad thing, says Mr Kearns. Because how is it possible to identify and make a better environmental choice, if the eco alternative, whatever material it is made from, looks too much like the conventional version?

Closing the loop

Closed loops are happening on a limited scale, and where they occur makes a positive statement about the brand. Whole Foods Market has a scheme which turns used yoghurt and sour cream pots into toothbrushes. Similarly, TerraCycle products made from sweet wrappers, snack bags, and juice pouches, are being sold at Walmart for the month of April, in honour of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day on 22 April. With this initiative, Walmart is hoping to spark some conversations about the life cycle of products and packaging.

Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) and Eco Plastics are boosting plastics recycling in the UK with a purpose-built facility for PET bottles. Currently, CCE sources food-grade rPET from continental Europe, and some two-thirds of used UK plastics packaging is exported for reprocessing.

“It is the first time that a major beverage brand has invested in recycling in this manner and will mean that plastics can go full-cycle in the UK, from use, to recycling, to reformulation,” a spokesperson for Eco Plastics told Packaging Today. “The hope is that other brands will now follow CCE’s lead.”

The plant is expected to supply CCE with enough UK-sourced, high quality rPET to achieve its target to include 25% rPET in all of its plastics packaging in the UK by 2012.

Luxury and ecology

High quality items and luxury goods are not immune from stakeholder demands for sensitivity to ecological impact.

Smart Planet Technologies (SPT) has pioneered what it calls ‘eco-smart’ alternatives to rigid, flexible and corrugated packaging applications, including for the luxury sector. EarthCoating Clear is a high barrier performance coating said to deliver up to a 60% better MVTR (moisture vapour transmission rate) performance than 100% low density polyethylene coatings, while containing at least 51% less plastics content.

EarthCoating White creates bright, white, premium print surfaces on unbleached fibreboards and aims to increase the use of recycled fibre substrates for high-end packaging. The company offers a composite boxboard product called EarthBoard, which is produced using EarthCoating White and 100% recycled, 35% post-consumer fibreboards. An early adopter, US-based Hugo Naturals, a supplier of luxurious personal care products to Whole Foods Market, has used EarthBoard to help meet its ambitious eco-design goals. SPT is in the process of establishing supply chain partners for Europe, aiming for commercialisation in the second half of 2011.

Meanwhile, in the UK Curtis Packaging has been working on ‘the very latest eco-friendly technology to beauty packaging while retaining glamour, style and consumer appeal’.

“We’ve invested in the latest technologies to ensure that sustainable can also be beautiful,” says Steve Mallett, Sales Director of Curtis.

A new factory, system has reduced waste for collection by 80% and increased recycling. “We also installed sophisticated systems through our sister company 3D Creative, to create samples and trial runs which substantially cut the environmental impact and, indeed, costs for many clients,” adds Mr Mallet.

A recent project for Orla Kiely’s new fragrance range set the challenge of imbuing the designer brand’s ‘instantly recognisable’ graphics with a feeling of luxury. The cartons were printed on the reverse of an FSC accredited material, using vegetable-based ink and a water-based coating. Most difficult was to achieve the colour matches and hold the beautiful ‘watermark’ effect, says Curtis.

In the industrial packaging sector, INAWA’s new Eco-newpack range comprises three pieces of board that convert into a case, wrap, tray and lid with flexible dimensions (see graphic on p25. Thanks to the modular structure and ‘multi-referencing’ capability, it can reduce cost for the packaging buyer, cut waste material at the corrugator plant, and results in a smaller volume of waste for retailers to dispose of, says INAWA.