Month: November 2016

Categories
Sustainability Tools

Measuring responsible forest management at the landscape-level is another perfect tool to add to the toolbox

Thanks to Sarah Crow at the American Forest Foundation for her help in writing this article.

Many companies with sustainable packaging goals use procurement policies and requirements as a strategy to meet these goals. For wood fiber-based packaging, this often means sourcing pulp and paper products certified by a credible third-party audited system such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), American Tree Farm System (ATFS), or combinations of each. Access to certified fiber, however, is often limited and many companies face a difficult challenge of how to meet responsible sourcing goals when certified fiber is not an option.
GreenBlue’s Forest Products Working Group (FPWG) and the American Forest Foundation (AFF) have been working together to address this challenge. With input from a wide range of stakeholders, including companies, brands, NGOs, family woodland owners and state and federal agencies, FPWG and AFF are exploring the development of a resource that uses a landscape-based evaluation – rather than by parcel – to provide visibility into wood baskets and demonstrate the outcomes of sustainable forest management, at scale.
This proposed landscape-based model aggregates a suite of different available data flows into a context that brand owners can use to inform their wood-fiber sourcing goals. The model focuses on woodlands owned by families and individuals, who collectively own 35% of forestland in the United States and supply more than 50% of material flow to the forest products industry including packaging. The system recognizes and supports the existing forest certification and related systems as important indicators of sustainability. A landscape model can help showcase areas where certification has had clear sustainability benefits and highlight opportunities to further engage family landowners to drive positive conservation impacts.
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Just recently the FPWG and AFF met at HAVI, a supply chain and logistics firm, in Downers Grove, IL with the goal of further shaping the concept. Leadership companies including Staples, Mars Incorporated, McDonald’s, HAVI, Target, Sappi North America, Catalyst, Domtar Corporation, Georgia-Pacific, Evergreen Packaging, WestRock, and International Paper have participated in a number of discussions to discuss key considerations necessary for such an ambitious endeavor.
Drawing on input from the stakeholders, AFF and the FPWG used the meeting at HAVI to answer key questions:

  1. What is the best strategy for the landscape model to align with and support existing certification systems?
  2. What sustainability indicators can and should be included?
  3. What is the most effective strategy for evaluating sustainability?
  4. How do we continue to work effectively with a broad group of stakeholders?

Acknowledging that developing a landscape model is a significant undertaking, the group was able to gain consensus and make progress in several key areas. A recurring theme throughout the conversations has been the need to provide a narrative and context to any presented data and analyses at the landscape level. As one member stated, “We know a lot is happening and being measured now and we want to show the results in a way where we can determine what is contributing to forest health.”
While there is a recognition that development of such a model is an ambitious endeavor, there is a great deal of enthusiasm and support for the effort. Drawing on strides made at the meeting, the next steps in the model’s development include further engagement of ENGOs and data experts, identifying data sources and refinement of the indicators within the wider framework. Refined sketches of the model are expected later this year.
 
 

Categories
GreenBlue

Welcome Introduction: Trina Matta

GreenBlue is pleased to announce that Trina Matta will be joining the team as a Senior Project Manager. Trina will be working on the newly-announced ASTRX project within the Sustainable Packaging Coalition. Trina brings 10 years of experience in recycling, government management, environmental conservation, water resources, and energy policy to the organization. Her most recent position was at Resource Recycling Systems developing solutions to sustainability and recycling challenges for businesses, local governments, and state governments.

Tell us about your background. Where did you spend your formative years and where did you go to school?

I grew up outside of Buffalo, New York and in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. In both cities, we lived in the woods so my parents encouraged me to get outside and play every day. I grew up walking in the woods, looking for wildlife, enjoying being surrounded by trees. My parents stressed the importance of helping others and respecting nature, and those lessons have stuck with me.
I attended UNC-Chapel Hill as an undergraduate student and also got my Master’s in Public Administration, with a concentration in environmental policy, from UNC-Chapel Hill.

What inspired you to work in the sustainability field?

I have always felt drawn to do work that was in the service of the planet or serving other people. After college, I volunteered through the AmeriCorps VISTA program with a nonprofit focused on sustainable food, because at the time I liked cooking. I really enjoyed that work but felt like I needed more practical leadership skills to really be effective, so I pursued a Master’s Degree in Public Administration. While getting my MPA, I interned with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, and I loved that experience. I later worked there full-time and was really inspired by my coworkers who were always so dedicated to the environment. I’ve been able to learn about recycling, energy policy, water quality, water resources, and a variety of other environmental issues. Being in the sustainability field allows me to learn about all of these different topics while also helping the planet and helping others.

What do you hope to achieve at GreenBlue?

I hope to help drive increased recovery of packaging by assessing the barriers and opportunities in the existing system, and then bringing people together to develop messages and tools that enhance the recycling system.

What do you find most inspiring about working in sustainability?

Being around other people who also believe that working together, we can have a positive impact on the lives of our fellow human beings and the environment. And also the fact that there is always more work to be done.
 

Categories
Eliminate Toxicity

Stepan Company Offers CleanGredients-approved Starter Formulations

Stepan Company, a long-term supplier who showcases its ingredients on CleanGredients, strives to offer safer solutions to its customers. One example of Stepan’s commitment to offering the market innovative and safer ingredients is its development of seven “starter formulations” that have undergone internal stability and performance testing, and also meet the U.S. EPA Safer Choice certification requirements.
Stepan developed these products to help those who are either unfamiliar with the U.S. EPA Safer Choice Program or lacked the time, money, or resources to develop and certify their own formulations. These starter formulations allow Stepan to share learnings and insights gained from years of experience working with its third-party profiler and the U.S. EPA in formulating greener products.
Formulators who are looking for flexibility can access Stepan’s full range of ingredients listed in CleanGredients and select the ingredients custom to their formula. However, those who may be less familiar with the U.S. EPA Safer Choice Program’s product review and approval process can significantly simplify matters by using one of Stepan’s seven approved, finished formulations. They are available for a variety of household and institutional cleaning applications, as identified below.
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Because the starter formulations have already been tested and reviewed in compliance with U.S. EPA Safer Choice standards, time to market for a Safer Choice-certified product is dramatically reduced for formulators and may offer them an opportunity to extend a product line with reduced overhead cost. The formulations take the guesswork associated with ingredients or residuals of concern out of the equation. And because Stepan has already incurred the costs associated with individual ingredient review, use of the starter formulations takes these costs out for the product formulator as well.
Stepan has a long history of involvement with the U.S. EPA Safer Choice Program and CleanGredients:

  • The company was a key stakeholder in the development of the first ingredient screen for surfactants.
  • In 2006, Stepan Company listed its first five ingredients in CleanGredients. Since that time, Stepan has listed a total of 30 surfactants in continued support of all who seek Safer Choice certification.
  • The company recently re-certified its seven starter formulations for another three years.

When asked her advice for companies looking to formulate greener products complying with the Safer Choice standard, Anne Gariepy, Stepan’s North America Technical Service and Sales Development Manager, said, “If you have questions, engage your third-party profiler and the U.S. EPA prior to formulation development. They are very open, approachable and willing to offer advisement. It will benefit all parties. Second, engage multiple stakeholders within your own organization in continued effort to educate and achieve alignment on the activities that have the greatest impact on an organization’s overarching sustainability goals.”
To learn more about Stepan’s U.S. EPA Safer Choice-approved starter formulations, visit www.cleangredients.org.

Categories
Eliminate Toxicity

Maximum Use Levels and Direct Release Reviews in CleanGredients Provide Additional Value for Product Formulators

Did you know that CleanGredients not only lists pre-approved ingredients for Safer Choice formulations, but also provides valuable information on how a given ingredient can be used in Safer Choice products? Both maximum use levels and reviews of ingredients for direct release to the environment can help formulators select the most appropriate ingredients for their formulations.

Maximum Use Levels

If an ingredient is listed in CleanGredients, it does not necessarily mean that the ingredient can be used at unlimited concentrations in a product carrying the Safer Choice label. In fact, maximum use levels may apply to ingredients listed in CleanGredients used for Safer Choice products. Formulators should keep these in mind to avoid surprises during the final review by EPA for approval to carry the Safer Choice label on their products.

Some of the ingredient profiles in CleanGredients contain a posted “Maximum Use (%)”, indicating the maximum concentration at which the ingredient may be used in a Safer Choice product, typically due to unavoidable residuals or impurities of concern that cannot be reduced with current manufacturing best practices. The Safer Choice Program reviews all such residuals and impurities, and in some cases will approve a listing with a maximum use level to keep all unavoidable residuals and impurities of concern below 0.01% in the finished product as sold. In the following example of a chelating agent, the ingredient has a calculated maximum use level of 10%, even though the active ingredient meets the Safer Choice criteria:

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Direct Release

Some products are intended for use in applications that result in immediate release to the environment, bypassing sewage treatment plants or septic systems and shortening the time available for degradation prior to entering the environment. Some examples of direct release products include home car washes, boat cleaners, and graffiti removers. In order to protect sensitive environments and aquatic life, EPA’s Safer Choice program has more stringent criteria for ingredients in direct release products. Any ingredients with aquatic toxicity values <10 mg/L are not allowed in Safer Choice direct release products. Furthermore, biodegradation must occur within a specified time frame and without degradation products of concern for the ingredient to be approved for direct release.
So, how can a formulator know whether an ingredient meets the more stringent criteria for direct release products? Fortunately, most ingredients listed in CleanGredients have already been evaluated against the Safer Choice criteria for environmental toxicity and fate for chemicals in direct release products. You can check an ingredient’s direct release approval status right on the main ingredient listing page or on any individual ingredient profile, and can sort the list of ingredients by direct release approval status, making it easier to find approved ingredients in a given functional class for your direct release products.
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The Takeaway for Product Formulators

Formulators can use the information on maximum use levels and direct release approvals when designing products for the EPA Safer Choice Label to ensure that they don’t end up with too high a concentration of residuals or impurities of concern or ingredients with excessive aquatic toxicity for direct release products. Other sources of Safer Choice ingredient information, including the EPA Safer Chemical Ingredients List (SCIL), don’t include information on maximum use levels or direct release approvals. By including this information, CleanGredients provides additional value, takes the guesswork out of obtaining the Safer Choice label, and reduces risk for formulators.
GreenBlue wishes to thank Nancy Linde, Managing Toxicologist at NSF International for her expertise in drafting the technical content of this article. NSF International is a third-party profiler for the EPA’s Safer Choice Program.