Go green

-- Packaging Digest, 5/1/2010 5:59:00 PM

Aveda cosmetic jar wins sustainability award
For cosmetics company Aveda, packaging waste can be a thing of beauty. For its Light Elements Styling jars, the company has been awarded the 2009/2010 3M Sustainable Packaging Award as part of the Institute of Packaging Professionals (IOPP) annual AmeriStar Awards.

Aveda brings to market two new styling products in recycled high density polyethylene (HDPE) jars. These are the first HDPE jars to include 99 percent post consumer recycled (PCR) content. The jars also represent the first time colorant has been loaded onto PCR resin for Aveda.

The jars are packaged in a carton containing fibers certified by the Forest Stewardship Council and containing up to 80 percent recycled content. The cartons also are manufactured and printed in facilities that use renewable energy.

Aveda has been recognized numerous times for following sustainable practices for its packaging. The company has stated it is mindful of the need to reduce the environmental footprint of its packaging and has spelled out goals that maximize use of post-consumer recycled materials, materials that can be and are recyclable, and by designing its packaging so that parts can be separated for recycling.

IOPP recognized 36 packages in its 2009/2010 AmerisStar Awards program, including a “Best in Show” award to Abbott Nutraceuticals. for its Similac SimplePac infant formula packaging. All AmeriStar packaging winners can be viewed at www.iopp.org


Expo highlights sustainability
Experience has shown that when Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, has its suppliers make small changes in packaging, the results can produce big savings.

The company’s aggressive packaging sustainability strategy was evident as it hosted nearly 200 packaging companies displaying their innovations and 2,000 attendees at the fifth annual Sustainable Packaging Expo, held April 5-7 in Rogers, AR, near the corporation’s international headquarters.

Amy Zettlemoyer-Lazar, Sam’s Club senior director of packaging and supplier diversity, explains that the expo was launched to help educate Walmart’s hundreds of buyers about the value of packaging and how controlling its use can create savings by reducing waste, while benefitting the environment. She adds that the buyers are encouraged to walk the expo with the consumer packaged goods marketers from whom they buy products to review available improvements from packaging companies. Many products on display represented secondary packaging and “retail-ready,” which emphasizes the package’s ability to protect the product while providing point-of-purchase marketing and easy stocking of shelves.

Exhibiting companies were able to display packaging that is already in use by Walmart and Sam’s Club, as well as new products they believe could have sustainable benefits for the retailer. Exhibitors were able to tell one success story about their packaging based on data submitted through the Walmart packaging scorecard. These stories explain the objective of each project, the approach and best practices employed, as well as specific data that detail benefits of their products within the Walmart system.


Conference tells success stories
Walmart also offered a series of presentations from its own staff, industry associations and consultants on related sustainability topics. Among the most popular were presentations on Walmart success stories. One example highlights how Walmart has been able to eliminate 590,000 lb of PVC packaging annually for household products, while also boosting sales with a simpler, paperboard belly band.

Ron Sasine, senior director of packaging for Walmart private brands, also points out that the retailer is incorporating sustainable principles into the packaging of its “Great Value” private brand while designing the look of a coherent family of products instead of “one-off designs.”

Rand Waddoups, senior director of strategy and sustainability, as well as a former buyer, says, “Normally a buyer doesn’t get exposure to broad-based innovations in packaging. The expo certainly increases Walmart’s internal competence around packaging opportunities.”


USDA offers guide on bio-based materials
Among the many educational sessions at this year’s Sustainable Packaging Coalition Spring Meeting was a presentation on the latest developments of the USDA BioPreferred Program.

Created by the 2002 Farm Bill and expanded in the 2008 Farm Bill, BioPreferred is a federally administered and run program that encourages the use and purchase of renewable, environmentally-friendly bio-based products while providing green jobs and new markets for farmers, product manufacturers, packaging suppliers, and other vendors.

The program encourages the use of biobased products through two avenues: a federal procurement preference program, with an extensive bioibased product database, and a voluntary labeling program.

More than 4,500 products and 1,000 companies are represented in the BioPreferred database, including 80-plus BioPreferred designated packaging products such as films, labels, sleeves, shrink wraps, packing wraps and tamper-evident bands. Federal agencies and the general public can access the database via the BioPreferred website at www.biopreferred.gov

The database is complemented by the USDA training and tools webpages, which are written to help vendors and buyers evaluate the green attributes of products. Additionally, the agency aims to make bio-based product information more accessible to the general public through a voluntary labeling program, in which manufacturers will be allowed to use the BioPreferred logo on qualified products or packaging.

The agency also is developing process to assess bio-based products based on life cycle analysis.


Sustainability reports
The following packaging and consumer packaged goods companies recently issued corporate sustainability reports. For more information, visit the following Web sites:

Cascades, www.cascades.com/cas/flip/RSD09

ConAgra, www.conagrafoods.com/corporateresponsibility

Kellogg Co., www.kelloggcompany.com/CR

Henkel Corp., www.henkel.com/sustainability

Hormel Foods, http://www.hormelfoods.com/responsibility/csr

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