Category: Sustainable Packaging Coalition

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Sustainable Packaging Coalition

The “Plastic Numbers" Get a Makeover

Resin Identification Codes (RICs), also known as the “plastic numbers” or “recycling numbers,” are getting a makeover.

Contrary to popular belief, a RIC does not equal “recyclable.” RICs are plastic identification codes developed in 1988 by SPI. The goal of RICs was to assist recyclers in identifying materials. They were never intended as a consumer communication tool. However, consumers and local recycling programs quickly adapted to use the ubiquitous “recycling numbers,” even as consumer testing continues to show that RICs confuse consumers and they do not understand their meaning.

RICs became an ASTM International standard in 2008. ASTM uses industry consensus via subcommittees to develop standards.

To decouple resin identification from recycling labeling, ASTM International Subcommittee D20.95 on Recycled Plastics approved a switch from chasing arrows to a triangle.

But not so fast.

RICs are required by law in 39 states. Herein lies a speedbump. Each state writes statutes in its own way with its own requirements. Many specifically require numbers with chasing arrows and specific letters.

While the international standard changed, state laws did not. It may take some time before consumers see the change. Meanwhile, companies must navigate between fulfilling the different state statutes or following the new ASTM standard.

Concurrently, GreenBlue’s How2Recycle label continues to take off. How2Recycle is an on-package recycling label that helps companies provide clear recycling instructions to consumers. How2Recycle replaces RICs as a clearer first line of communication with consumers. We anticipate great growth and exciting announcements in the near future.

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Sustainable Packaging Coalition

CCF Brands and Ecologic Brands Join the How2Recycle Program

The How2Recycle labeling program is growing in popularity, and the Sustainable Packaging Coalition is thrilled to announce two new participants: CCF Brands and Ecologic Brands!

CCF Brands is the company that distributes eggs to Walmart under the familiar Great Day Farms label. CCF Brands has two types of cartons that will carry the How2Recycle label: a fiber carton and a foam carton. The fiber cartons, manufactured with either 100% recycled material or 100% reclaimed paper, will carry the “Widely Recycled” label, while the polystyrene foam cartons will receive the “Check Locally” label.

We have a double announcement for Ecologic Brands, as they have both joined the How2Recycle label and received the first license fee financial sponsorship for the “Store Drop-off” label. Ecologic Brands created the well-known eco.bottle that consists of an outer shell paper bottle made of recycled cardboard boxes and an inner plastic pouch. This inner pouch is made from LDPE plastic, one of the two polyethylene plastics (along with HDPE) accepted at thousands of drop-off locations nationwide, and will carry the How2Recycle “Store Drop-off” label.
As we mentioned in an earlier blog, the generosity of the ACC Flexible Film Recycling Group (FFRG) has made sponsorships available for new How2Recycle participants using the “Store Drop-off” label. Ecologic Brands is the first participant to have their License Fee offset by the sponsorship. There are still sponsorships available, so if your company has a product eligible for the “Store Drop-off” label, act fast to claim a sponsorship while the opportunity is still around!
CCF Brands and Ecologic Brands join the 13 other How2Recycle participants in the sustainability endeavor to improve recycling rates throughout the country. Interested in jumping on the bandwagon? Visit how2recycle.info for more information on the program and email Anne Bedarf to express your interest in using the label or apply for a sponsorship! 

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Sustainable Packaging Coalition

Spotted: Aveda’s In-Store Message on Sustainable Packaging

I was at my local Aveda hair salon recently and spotted this shelf advertisement – touting not their product, but their packaging. Kudos to Aveda for making packaging sustainability part of their overall brand message! Coincidentally, we SPC staff have been talking around the office about the importance of brandowners telling their packaging sustainability story in a highly visible way as part of a good brand story. Has anyone seen other brands do something similar?

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A Merging of Standards and Sustainability

In “At the Intersection of Standards and Sustainability,” published in the March/April 2013 issue of Standardization News, editor in chief Maryann Gorman wrote, “… modern development — manufacturing, infrastructure projects, building construction and so on — takes place in a vast and interconnected world of systems. Global supply chains, regional regulatory schemes and the emergence of integrated systems like intelligent highways and buildings mean that most materials are produced within overlapping economic, social, regulatory, environmental and material requirements. And it is at this intersection that standards and sustainability meet.”
For the packaging community, standardization for measurement of sustainability performance started its journey in 2009 with the release of GreenBlue’s Sustainable Packaging Coalition®-produced “Sustainable Packaging Indicators and Metrics Framework©.” The Framework synthesized the vast body of measurement literature into a core set of indicators relevant to the packaging supply chain. Then in 2011, the Consumer Goods Forum picked up this work and condensed the effort into the Global Protocol for Packaging Sustainability (GPPS 2.0), which provides a common language for packaging sustainability related measurements. Presently, the set of environmental attributes and life cycle indicators within GPPS are poised to be released into a global GS1 standard that will provide a platform for submitting and the sharing environmental measurements between producers and retailers in a consistent and unified manner.
The GS1 GDS-GPP Packaging Sustainability Standard is in review and comments phase and is scheduled for release this summer. With the rollout of this additional layer into GS1 standard platform, a producer can release sustainability-related data via the GS1 global trade item number (GTIN) barcode system, thus allowing buyers to gain access to those data without the producer having to fulfill multiple requests from buyers from different retailers for the same information. Such central data sharing will allow ease of communication along the supply chain and with luck, facilitate overall transparency, benchmarking, and tracking progress for product categories.
One clarification: the GS1 standard only standardizes the reporting and sharing of sustainability indicators related to a package based on its assigned barcode. It does not standardize the methods by which the measurements are calculated. That is a different conversation. Stay tuned for the standard’s release date this summer.

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Sustainable Packaging Coalition

How2Recycle Sponsorships Now Available for Store Drop-off Labels

The Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC) is happy to announce an offer of financial sponsorships for use of the How2Recycle “Store Drop-off” label! For eligible companies, the How2Recycle License Fee will be offset by these sponsorships. Sponsorships will target high-volume categories of polyethylene-based (HDPE and LDPE) flexible film which include but are not limited to newspaper bags, bread bags, dry cleaning bags and product wraps.
I visit a nearby grocery store about once a week, but up until a few weeks ago I had no idea that I was able to drop off and recycle certain plastic bags there. Throughout the United States there are about 15,000 participating locations such as retail and grocery stores where people can recycle a variety of plastic films. The “Store Drop-off” How2Recycle Label is meant to direct the appropriate recyclable plastic films to these drop-off locations and to keep them out of curbside recycling bins. To find the drop-off site nearest you, visit the Check Locally page of the How2Recycle website.
GreenBlue and the SPC are thrilled to have the support of the Flexible Film Recycling Group (FFRG) of the American Chemistry Council who have generously made this sponsorship possible. The mission of the FFRG is to increase the collection and recycling of flexible plastic films and to educate consumers about the importance of recycling. The FFRG believes the “Store Drop-off” label will convey the ease of recycling this important material at local stores across the country.
Companies that have not yet been licensed under How2Recycle and otherwise meet the eligibility requirements of the program are qualified for a sponsorship. The “Store Drop-off” Label currently appears on the products of several participating How2Recycle companies including Kellogg, Sealed Air, and Seventh Generation.
Interested companies can find more information by visiting http://www.how2recycle.info/. To apply for a sponsorship, send an email to Anne Bedarf, with the subject line “How2Recycle”. Please include the name of your company, reason for interest, and the type(s) of packaging to which the company would apply the label.
Funding is limited for the How2Recycle sponsorships, so claim one for your company before the opportunity runs out!

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Sustainable Packaging Coalition

Confused About Plastic Recycling? Provide Your Input on Recycling Terminology!

A wide gap remains between the general public and the packaging industry when it comes to understanding recyclability terms, especially with plastics and the related Resin Identification Codes. A survey by plastics consultant Moore Recycling Associates is attempting to gauge the public’s current understanding of the terminology that their local community may use, and we encourage everyone to participate.
Moore Recycling Associates and Re-TRAC Connect tell us, “we are working on a project to standardize plastic recycling terminology: both for public education, and for commodity tracking. With your help, our goal is to create a clear, consistent set of terms throughout the recycling chain. The link below will take you to a short online presentation, at the end of which you will have the opportunity to provide your feedback on the proposed terminology. The deadline for feedback is June 11, 2013.”
http://my.brainshark.com/Plastic-Recycling-Terminology-271401132

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Sustainable Packaging Coalition

Packaging Design for Sustainability

GreenBlue’s Sustainable Packaging Coalition teamed up with Éco Entreprises Québec to develop a brand new web-enabled platform of leading edge design guidance for sustainable packaging. It’s now live on the web at www.sustainablepackdesign.com, and here’s a short overview of the website that was shown at the Packaging Optimization Summit in Toronto on May 15.

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Sustainable Packaging Coalition

Grove to Recycler Student Video Contest Winners

The Sustainable Packaging Coalition’s Industry Leadership Committee on Consumer Education and Outreach would like to congratulate our first and second place video contest winners! Their videos were both creative and informative, and we are pleased to share the results.
Industry Leadership Committees bring together members of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition around a topic of interest. This spring, the ILC on Consumer Education and Outreach held a student video contest titled “Grove to Recycler.” Students were challenged with creating videos that communicate the importance and value of packaging in making our world more sustainable, while using orange juice as a theme.
We would also like to thank our anonymous donor for providing the prize money for this contest.
First Place: “Orange Juice and Packaging: A Loop Story” by Tim Dehm
Rochester Institute of Technology
Prize: $3,000

Narrative: “This Flash-made animation was created with the intent to explain, in simple terms, the role of packaging in the life cycle of orange juice, specifically its role beyond what the consumer ordinarily sees.”
Second Place: “Oran-ja Sustainable” by Derek Pincus & Francesca Delle Cese
California Polytechnic State University
Prize: $2,000

Narrative: “Oran-ja Sustainable is a video to show the grove to recycler of orange juice and its packaging while keeping in mind our audience may be of all ages. Therefore our video clearly and simply explains the role of orange juice packaging and if it is not recycled, it can be worth more to the consumer. The polymer coating on orange juice cartons used to provide a strong moisture barrier leads to the carton’s inability to be compatible with some recycling streams in some areas of the country. Our video shows creative ways for consumers to use their orange juice carton for other purposes after use, which is sustainable compared to landfill. We hope our video inspires orange juice consumers to think twice about not only orange juice packaging but other similar paperboard cartons.”
Many thanks to our team members & judges:
Tamal Ghosh, PepsiCo
Julie Kwon, Amcor Rigid Plastics
Steve Mahler, Caraustar
Risa Shapiro, PepsiCo
Tim Rose, Schawk

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Sustainable Packaging Coalition

Confusing Packaging Labels: Salt

Last week, NPR food blog The Salt published a story on low-sodium claims with a familiar theme: clear and meaningful on-package claims.
On-package sustainability claims are an exciting way to share our work with consumers. The Sustainable Packaging Coalition explores claims through education in the Essentials of Sustainable Packaging course, the Meaningful Marketing Claims Industry Leadership Committee, and the How2Recycle on package recycling label. However, getting the correct message across to consumers can be a challenge.
A study by the University of Toronto showed that on-package claims for low sodium, disease prevention, or lowering blood pressure improved overall consumer perception of a product. The study polled 506 Canadians, one third of which had high blood pressure.
The How2Recycle label is seeing some of the same trends. According to the How2Recycle web survey, 80% of respondents think more positively of companies that participate in How2Recycle. Consumers note appreciation of transparency, use of recyclable materials, and belief that the participating company has broader sustainability motivations.
What I found interesting about this study is that these claims created a halo effect of other health benefits of the product. Not only did consumers have a more positive perception of the product, but some consumers also (incorrectly) equated the claims with improving weight loss, constipation, and diabetes. The article’s final observation is that although companies are reducing sodium, they are weary of advertising for fear of negative consumer perception.
Read more from The Salt, including an article on coffee certification labels.
 

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GreenBlue Sustainable Packaging Coalition

Top Five Fun Facts – April

Eric DesRoberts continues his monthly series of facts and tidbits he’s uncovered during his research to better understand products and packaging. You can also check out his past Fun Facts here.
1. The 2012 Urban Mobility Report found that traffic congestion costs Americans over $120 billion in delay time and wasted fuel. The report highlights that congestion caused urban Americans to travel an additional 5.5 billion hours and purchase an extra 2.9 billion gallons of fuel over the course of the year. Washington DC, Los Angeles, and San Francisco experienced the longest delays.

2. Exposure to Radon in the home is responsible for an estimated 20,000 lung cancer deaths each year. Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers and is produced by the decay of naturally occurring uranium in soil and water. Check your detectors!
3. According to the Global Language Monitor, Global Warming/Climate Change was the top phrase of the first decade of the 21st century. For the year 2012, Climate Change/Global Warming claimed the number 2 spot behind Gangnam Style.
4. March 31st marked the opening day for Major League Baseball. Over the course of the 2013 season, the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council estimates baseball fans will consume over 20 million hot dogs. Estimates for the top selling ball parks include:

Hot Dog

  • LA Dodgers (2.4 million)
  • Boston Red Sox (1.5 m)
  • Texas Rangers (1.3 m)
  • Detroit Tigers (1.3)
  • NY Yankees (1 m)
Sausage

  • Boston Red Sox (421k)
  • NY Mets (405k)
  • Giants (400k)
  • Nationals (400k)
  • Brewers (400k)

5. The first Earth Day was celebrated on April 22, 1970. The success of that day helped increase awareness of environmental issues and helped gain support for the development of organizations like the US EPA. The Earth Day Network is a good resource to help you plan and contribute to Earth Day events