Lisa McTigue Pierce, Executive Editor

April 26, 2018

10 Min Read
Sustainable packaging innovators earn kudos

Sometimes it’s hard enough to make any substantial gains in sustainable packaging goals. But it takes extra effort and zeal to really excel. When that happens, the entire industry—and perhaps even the world—advances.

On April 25, the Sustainable Packaging Coalition applauded innovation and leadership in sustainable packaging with the presentation of its 2018 SPC Innovator Awards. Excellence in sustainability and packaging was recognized in four categories: Packaging Innovation; Breakthrough Process; Outcome of a Partnership; and Outstanding Person.

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“Every entry in the 2018 SPC Innovator Awards embodied creativity, inventiveness and progressive action, truly demonstration the ingenuity and power industry wields to drive positive change,” says Adam Gendell, associate director of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition. “We thank each and every entrant, and it is our pleasure to recognize the select few entries that we felt went above and beyond to advance the state of sustainable packaging.”

Congratulations to the winners and honorable mention recipients:

Page 1: Packaging Innovation winner is Coca-Cola North America, with an honorable mention to Earth-To-Go.

Page 2: Breakthrough Process winners are Envision and ViTA.

Page 3: Outcome of a Partnership winners are PepsiCo, Natureworks, Danimer Scientific, Omya, Berry Plastics and Johnson-Bryce, with an honorable mention to American Packaging Corp.

Page 4: Outstanding Person awards go to Ashley C. Hall, senior manager of sustainability, Walmart, and Victor Bell, president, Environmental Packaging Intl. (EPI)

Here’s why they deserve praise…

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Packaging Innovation winner: Coca-Cola improves the recyclability of its 89-oz Simply Orange juice container

A three-prong improvement for Coca-Cola’s 89-oz Simply Orange juice bottle vastly improves its recyclability, and presents a technical “first” in plastics manufacturing.

1. Development of a new polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin that can be extrusion blow molded on shuttle machines allowed Coca-Cola to switch materials from a hard-to-recycle “Other” (resin code No.7) to the widely-accepted PET (resin code No.1).

2. By also optimizing the bottle design, Coca-Cola is able to reduce annual plastics usage by more than 1.5 million pounds.

3. The pressure-sensitive label on the bottle now uses an innovative adhesive that separates the label from the bottle during the recycling process, further improving the package’s recyclability.

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Accepting the award are Sarah Dearman, sustainable packaging program director, and Jordan Mattison, senior engineer, R&D packaging, at The Coca-Cola Co.

“When we work together, great things can happen,” Dearman says. “The sustainability improvements to the Simply [Orange] 89-oz bottle, including enhanced recyclability and material reduction of 1.5 million pounds, is a great collaboration example. Suppliers and numerous organizations worked together to make this packaging innovation a success with benefits that will be realized throughout the recycling community.”

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Packaging Innovation, honorable mention: Earth-to-Go expands PLA for foodservice packaging

Most sustainable packaging professionals are well aware of the bio-based polymer polylactic acid (PLA). This is the first time I’ve heard of PLA being “expanded” with air, and by up to 40%. Made with NatureWorks Ingeo PLA biopolymer resin, the resulting line of Earth Maise products from Earth-to-Go were designed to replace the typical polystyrene packaging used in foodservice applications. The compostable material is lightweight, able to withstand heat for use in microwave ovens and yet is cold tolerant to -4-deg F. It is also resistant to moisture and grease, which is critical for many foodservice uses.

According to Nina Goodrich, SPC executive director, expanded PLA introduces a lower-cost opportunity for PLA to find new footholds in the market.

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Accepting the honorable mention is Kevin Duffy, president, Biodegradable Food Service LLC.

NEXT: Winners of the Breakthrough Process category

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Production efficiencies, ecommerce challenges, sustainability trends, new bioplastic technologies and more are among the topics on the agenda at the new Packaging Education Hub at EastPack 2018 (June 12-14; NYC). This free educational program will have more than 15 hours of can’t-miss presentations, demonstrations and hands-on activities. Register to attend for free today!

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Breakthrough Process: Envision creates the OceanBound Plastic Bottle for ViTA

How to best fight marine debris? Prevent the plastic from entering waterways from the start. That is the goal behind the OceanBound Plastic Bottle. Envision has organized special collection of plastics within 50 kilometers of a coast line at known at-risk areas for marine debris and then recycles the material. Its first customer, ViTA, is using the 100% of the recycled plastic in bottles for hair care products, disproving the myth that recycled resin is low quality and can only be used in small percentages. Additionally, the resin used in the masterbatch also carries the colorant, a pearlescent hue.

• Colorants and inks were chosen with attention to toxicity;

• Energy use through the production cycle was offset with carbon credits;

• Labels and related adhesives separate easily during recycling;

• Water usage was extremely limited and kept solvent-free so that it could be repurposed as grey water for landscape irrigation;

• The distance between manufacturers and warehousing was calculated and used in a proprietary scoring system to best choose manufacturing partners for the lowest possible carbon emissions.”

“Plastic in our oceans is perhaps the greatest environmental tragedy of our day,” says Sandra Lewis, director of business development, Envision Plastics. “It is an honor and privilege to prove to the world that we can intercept this plastic before it reaches our waterways, recycle it into a high-quality resin and use it in bottles at 100%. We ask others to follow the example set by ViTA in using Envision’s OceanBound Plastic in your products and packages. By creating the demand for this resin, we can keep more plastic from ever reaching the ocean and put it back in the value chain so that it can be used again and again.”

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Accepting the awards are Sandra Lewis, director of business development for Envision, and Andrew Hood, chief business development officer for ViTA.

NEXT: Winners of the Outcome of a Partnership category

******************************************************************************

Production efficiencies, ecommerce challenges, sustainability trends, new bioplastic technologies and more are among the topics on the agenda at the new Packaging Education Hub at EastPack 2018 (June 12-14; NYC). This free educational program will have more than 15 hours of can’t-miss presentations, demonstrations and hands-on activities. Register to attend for free today!

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Outcome of a Partnership: PepsiCo, Natureworks, Danimer Scientific, Omya, Berry Plastics and Johnson-Bryce commercialize bio-based barrier films

Through strategic partnerships with key material suppliers, PepsiCo has been able to develop, test market and then commercialize new bio-based compounds for flexible packaging for several of its businesses, including Frito-Lay.

PepsiCo worked with key resin manufacturer, NatureWorks, and leading bio-polymer compounder, Danimer Scientific, to produce the new bio-based compounds. Calcium carbonate additives, supplied by Omya, were modified to create the right interaction with the bio-polymers and to make the materials more cost effective. Berry Global adapted its film extrusion lines to handle the compounded resin and produce high-quality films. And converter Johnson Bryce optimized its process to print and laminate the new films.

“It is an honor to receive this award from the SPC. PepsiCo has the privilege of working with some great vendors within our supply chain and it is with their help that we were able to introduce the next generation of bio-based/compostable packaging,” says Brad Rodgers (pictured above with the bag), R&D director of sustainable packaging and advanced materials research at PepsiCo. “We look forward to continuing to expand the use of these materials over the coming years.”

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Accepting the awards are (from left to right) Sridevi Narayan-Sarathy, senior principal scientist, global snacks packaging R&D-discovery, PepsiCo; Darrell Kellner, senior manager, R&D/quality, Johnson Bryce; John Moore, svp, business development, Danimer Scientific; Brad Rodgers, R&D director, sustainable packaging and advanced material research, PepsiCo; Monroe Moore, senior manager, technical services, Omya; David Stanton, North America retail, NatureWorks; and Wesley (Wes) Porter, sales director, Berry Global.

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Honorable mention, Outcome of a Partnership: American Packaging Corp. creates a stand-up pouch with rigid fitment that is entirely recyclable

By redesigning the traditional stand-up pouch with a fitment closure, converter American Packaging Corp. was able to create a clear barrier package that can be recycled through store drop-off. The development required collaboration throughout the supply chain:

Material manufacturers include Dow, ABX, Jindal, Isoflex, Charter-NEX Films and Berry Global.

Fitment manufacturer is Hoffer Plastics.

Pouch maker is Widmann Ultrasonics.

Recycling validation was performed by TREX.

Karlville Development played a crucial role in facilitating the pouch production effort.

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Accepting the honorable mention is Chris King (right), product development engineer with American Packaging Corp., and Mercedes Candedo, new business development leader with Karlville Development.

NEXT: Winners of the Outstanding Person category

******************************************************************************

Production efficiencies, ecommerce challenges, sustainability trends, new bioplastic technologies and more are among the topics on the agenda at the new Packaging Education Hub at EastPack 2018 (June 12-14; NYC). This free educational program will have more than 15 hours of can’t-miss presentations, demonstrations and hands-on activities. Register to attend for free today!

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Outstanding Person: Ashley C. Hall, senior sustainability manager, Walmart, and Victor Bell, president, EPI

This year, the judges found two people worthy of the Outstanding Person award.

As senior sustainability manager at Walmart, Ashley Hall has been instrumental in the roll out of Walmart’s Sustainable Packaging Playbook and implementation of SPC’s How2Recycle labeling system. She has also built the packaging pillar of Project Gigaton, Walmart's ambitious pursuit to remove one gigaton of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

According to the entry: “[Ashley Hall] has driven change on every front of sustainable packaging, from sourcing recycled content and plant-based plastics, to optimizing material usage and enhancing product protection, to designing for recycling and improving recyclability messaging, to driving down carbon footprints. Driven by her inexhaustible motivation and ability to build momentum internally and with key partners, the scope and reach of her work is enormous.

“Ashley is creating a blueprint for sustainability professionals to follow, demonstrating the power of one individual to lead change at one of the world’s largest companies.”

Since becoming one of the founding members of the SPC in 2002, Victor Bell, president of global environmental packaging and product stewardship consultancy Environmental Packaging Intl. (EPI), has not only contributed greatly to the organization but has also influenced many local, state, federal and global governments. He has shared his knowledge with so many people by mentoring them about sustainability that it would be hard to find a sustainable packaging professional he has not touched.

An outspoken New Englander, Bell challenges people to think. His passion, insights and knowledge make him one of the great ambassadors of sustainability today.

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Accepting their awards are Ashley Hall (above via a pre-recorded video because she was not able to attend in person) and a stunned and nearly speechless Victor Bell.

******************************************************************************

Production efficiencies, ecommerce challenges, sustainability trends, new bioplastic technologies and more are among the topics on the agenda at the new Packaging Education Hub at EastPack 2018 (June 12-14; NYC). This free educational program will have more than 15 hours of can’t-miss presentations, demonstrations and hands-on activities. Register to attend for free today!

About the Author(s)

Lisa McTigue Pierce

Executive Editor, Packaging Digest

Lisa McTigue Pierce is Executive Editor of Packaging Digest. She’s been a packaging media journalist since 1982 and tracks emerging trends, new technologies, and best practices across a spectrum of markets for the publication’s global community. Reach her at [email protected] or 630-272-1774.

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