Earth and Industry » Packaging

eBay Testing 100,000 Reusable Shipping Boxes

Timothy B. Hurst — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 20:41:15 +0000

No, eBay doesn't exactly ship anything. For that matter, they don't even make anything that requires shipping. But with a community of millions of active eBay buyers and sellers, there's no reason they can't launch a product that could make a significant dent in the company's environmental footprint.

On Wednesday, the world's largest online auction unveiled its prototype reusable shipping container, The eBay Box, which the company is printing 100,000 of in three different sizes. The boxes will be available at first to select eBay sellers

The idea for the eBay Box emerged from eBay's 'Innovation Expo' that invites eBay employees to develop prototypes for new products and breakthrough innovations that benefit the company's buyers and sellers. Basically, The Green Box is a durable box designed to be used over and over and over again.

According to eBay's calculations, if every box gets reused at least five times, the boxes could "protect nearly 4,000 trees, save 2.4 million gallons of water and conserve enough energy to power 49 homes for a year."

And just like the old-school system of cards in library books or those inter-office envelopes, the Green Box leaves a space for users to sign and leave some information about what the box was used for or where it has traveled.

When the boxes reach the end of their usable life, because they are made from 100% recycled content, the FSC-certified corrugated cardboard and are fully recyclable.

As a fairly eBay user, I look forward to seeing one of these in my mailbox some day. Even more than that, I look forward to turning around and shipping something off in one -- whether I really needed to sell it or not.

Dell Cuts 18 Million Pounds Out of Packaging Loop Since 2008

Timothy B. Hurst — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 12:11:12 +0000

After my little rant yesterday about Nestle's "Eco-Shape" plastic water bottles, I'm happy to report on more positive steps in the packaging world (While one might interpret those remarks about Nestle as purely bashing the company, it would be more accurate to interpret them as a knock on the greenwashy marketing and on the bottled water industry as a whole. But I digress.).

In the last few years, computing and electronics giant, Dell (NASDAQ:DELL), has established itself as a company with a strong green gene -- and that focus on sustainability extends to making advancements in materials and packaging.

In December 2008, Dell announced a plan to transform computer packaging. And in that time, the company has increased the amount of recycled content in its packaging by approximately 32 percent, including the introduction of bamboo packaging. To achieve the company's larger packaging goals of increasing recycled content in its packaging by 40 percent by 2012 the company is implementing a strategy based on the three Cs: Cube, Content and Curbside.

“Establishing these packaging goals has transformed my team from great packaging engineers to inspired environmental champions,” said Dell’s senior manager of Global Packaging, Oliver Campbell.

Dell outlines the three Cs strategy in their recently released 2010 Corporate Responsibility Summary Report (pdf):

Cube

Reducing the size of product packaging has required changes ranging from putting fewer items in the box, which allows for smaller packaging and a simpler "out-of-box" experience for customers, to using engineering tools to run various “what if” scenarios.

Using these tools, Dell says it has optimized its Inspiron 15 laptop packaging so that 63 laptops fit on each shipping pallet, up from 54 before the retooling. More laptops on each pallet means fewer shipping vehicles and a smaller environmental impact from shipping

Content

As mentioned above, Dell has increased the amount of recycled content in its packaging. For heavier products that require sturdy support, the company has stepped up the use of recycled foam versus using virgin product.

Dell has also increased its use of post-consumer recycled plastics, integrating the equivalent of more than 9.5 million half-gallon milk jugs into its packaging.

In 2008, Dell embraced bamboo as a strong and compostable alternative to the molded paper pulp, foams, and corrugated cardboard often used in packaging. Starting with its Inspiron Mini 10 and 10v netbooks, the company now uses bamboo packaging in its new 5-inch hybrid device, Streak, and for several of its Inspiron laptops.

Curbside

A critical part of any sustainable packaging strategy is closing the loop. Ensuring its product packaging is curbside-recyclable is part of that commitment. To reach its goal, Dell increasingly selects recyclable materials for its packaging, including PCR plastics and molded paper pulp.

While bamboo is still not accepted by many municipal recyclers for curbside pickup, Dell is teaming with Georgia Pacific, Unisource Global Services and Environmental Packaging International in an effort to certify its bamboo packaging for recycling.

According to Dell's Campbell, “The progress we’ve made has kept a lot of materials out of landfills, made responsible packaging disposal easier for customers and is making Dell a more environmentally responsible company.”

via: Greener Packaging

Really? Should Nestle Be Winning Awards for Its ‘Eco-Shape’ Plastic Water Bottle?

Timothy B. Hurst — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 13:03:01 +0000

With 38 million going to U.S. landfills annually, should single use plastic water bottles really be winning awards?

When Nestlé first launched their "Eco-Shape" PET plastic water bottle a few years back, the 15 percent reduction in plastic used (as compared to the average for .5 liter plastic bottles) in the bottle was hardly enough to garner the "eco" prefix. In fact, I thought the bottle--and the marketing campaign that went along with it--was a laughable and blatantly transparent example of greenwashing.

So when Nestlé announced it would be receiving an award for the Eco-Shape bottle, I must admit that I threw up in my mouth a little.

But the 2010 Gold Connecticut Quality Improvement Award's Innovation Prize was not given to Nestlé for the old 12.3-gram Eco-Shape bottle introduced in 2007, it was given for the new-and-improved second generation Eco-Shape bottle, which weighs an average of 9.3 grams and uses 25 percent less PET plastic than its predecessor and 60 percent less PET than the company's pre-Eco-Shape PET bottle. The new bottles use 30 percent less PET than other bottle designs of the same size.

But considering that 80 percent of plastic bottles are never recycled and 38 million plastic bottles go to the dump annually in the U.S. alone, I'm not comfortable with an "eco" designation being attached to any plastic bottle, even if the bottle is lighter, and uses less plastic and paper than other bottles of the same size.

Now I'm not necessarily knocking Nestlé for the packaging "advancement." In fact, the company claims that the Eco-Shape is credited with reducing Nestlé Waters' carbon emission equivalents by more than 356,000 tons since 2007. The company also boasts the fact that the new bottle's label is 35 percent smaller than the previous label, saving nearly 10 million pounds of paper annually.

Taken at face value, the advancements in material efficiency in the new Nestlé bottle are a good thing. But just because the package uses less plastic--and is cheaper to produce and transport--does not mean Nestlé should be slapping an "eco" on it.

And it definitely doesn't mean they should be winning any awards.

Procter & Gamble to Use Sugarcane-Based Plastics in Packaging

Timothy B. Hurst — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 06:01:05 +0000

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) today announced plans to use renewable, sustainable, sugarcane-derived plastic on selected packaging on several of its personal care and beauty brands.

Unlike traditional plastics made from non-renewable petroleum, the new material PG&E will use in its Pantene Pro-V, COVERGIRL and Max Factor brands is made using a process which transforms sugarcane into high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic, a type commonly used for product packaging.

P&G will source the sugarcane-derived plastic from Braskem SA, who manufactures the material using ethanol made from sustainably-grown Brazilian sugarcane. The sugarcane-derived HDPE is 100% recyclable in existing municipal recycling facilities.

By launching this renewable packaging on some of its global beauty brands, P&G hopes to leverage its tremendous scale and reach to deliver meaningful environmental improvements.

''This innovation is truly consumer-driven. As we talk with women around the world, they tell us that they want to make themselves more beautiful without making their environment less beautiful,'' said Gina Drosos, Group President, Global P&G Beauty. ''With this new packaging innovation, women can have confidence that their favorite brands are helping to make a difference.''

The pilot sugarcane-derived packaging will be rolled out globally over the next 2 years, with the first products expected to be on shelf in 2011. There is still no word whether Proctor & Gamble has any intention of rolling out the sugarcane-based plastic in any of its other major consumer brands.

Photo: Some rights reserved by Deivis

Company Developing Sustainable Packaging Made from Coconuts

Timothy B. Hurst — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 18:35:34 +0000

Whole tree hopes to take a coconut-flavored bite out of the cardboard packaging industry

Texas-based green materials firm, Whole Tree Inc., the same company that last year made a big splash with the news that it was working on developing car parts made from coconut fibers, announced that it is now testing the waters in the sustainable packaging industry.

Working with Compadre, an Austin-based packaging design and engineering company tasked with bringing the coconut-fiber packaging to market, Whole Tree will work to develop packaging applications using a composite material made in part from coconut fiber.

The coconut-based material is strong and stiff, which allows Compadre to form the material into various shapes for packaging applications. When molded, the material is called Coir Form.

"The intrinsic properties of coir fiber are truly amazing," says Dr. Walter Bradley, Distinguished Faculty at Baylor University in Texas and founder and chairman of Whole Tree. "It also has a natural burn resistance and natural resistance to mildew and microbial attack."

Dr. Bradley says the material can be made with variable densities, which can produce a number of property combinations, which will allow for creative and variable solutions for customer needs.

via Packaging Digest

Whole Foods Signs Deal with GreenBox for Innovative Pizza Boxes

LiveOAK Staff — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 18:15:22 +0000

We're not sure whether it was our recent coverage of the coolest pizza box on the planet that did the trick, or maybe it had something to do with the tweet from Ashton Kutcher, one of the most-followed people on Twitter, but the makers of GreenBox, the pizza box that breaks down into 4 plates and a smaller box for leftovers just inked a deal with Whole Foods Market to start using the boxes in their stores across the country.

ECOvention, LLC expects to roll out the GreenBox at other Whole Foods Market locations throughout the United States and Canada.

via Packaging Digest

A Cardboard Box that Sprouts Life at the End of Its Own

Timothy B. Hurst — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 18:43:16 +0000

It's no secret that we like talking about cardboard boxes. From fully customizable cardboard boxes that can be formed into just about any shape, to others that could revolutionize the pizza box, there's clearly tons of room for growth and sustainable improvements to cardboard boxes. But the new Life Box design from Paul Stamets does something no other cardboard box does, it sprouts.

According to its creators, Stamets' Life Box and Tree Life Box "builds upon the synergy of fungi and plants by infusing spores and seeds together inside of packaging materials that can be planted."

Planted Planet Productions, distributors of the Life Box suite of products say it could be ideally suited for DVD/CD mailers, pizza boxes, shoe boxes or even sleeves for hot beverage cups. They even suggest that some day the Tree Life Box could some day qualify for up to one ton of carbon credits, but I think they have some serious product testing and independent verification before that happens.

h/t Inhabitat; greenUPGRADER

Serious Overpackaging at Whole Foods Cafeteria

Becky Striepe — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 15:00:22 +0000

While visiting my family in Fort Lauderdale not too long ago, my sister and I popped into the Whole Foods near Wilton Manors for a quick lunch between errands. We needed utensils for our salads, so I headed to the silverware counter, and the image above is what greeted me.

They didn't just opt for disposable, plastic utensils. Oh no. These were also individually wrapped for your convenience in more disposable plastic! This is something I'd expect at a McDonald's or a KFC, but at a Whole Foods? This sort of flies in the face of the company's core values, especially:

Wise Environmental Practices

We respect our environment and recycle, reuse, and reduce our waste wherever and whenever we can.

The Whole Foods closest to me in Atlanta does have reusable, metal silverware in their cafeteria, so this must be a store-to-store thing. What sort of utensils does your local Whole Foods offer in their cafeteria?

Pizza Box Design Eliminates Need for Plates (w/video)

Timothy B. Hurst — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 21:09:01 +0000

If you're anything like me, you end up with a few pizza boxes kicking around your kitchen once in a while. The big cardboard boxes can be recycled if they are absolutely clean of any food debris, but that rarely is the case. A New York design firm believes it has solved the pizza box waste problem--or at least found an innovative way to repurpose them.

The Green Box by Ecoincorporated is designed to easily break down into four plates for you and your pizza-loving guests. And perhaps the coolest part, if there are any leftovers, the other half of the box folds into a handy leftover pizza box that is half the size of its bulky progenitor (see video below). The best aspect of the Green Box from a business standpoint is that it is manufactured at no additional cost.

H/t: Triple Pundit; greenUPGRADER

Iowa Plant Now Making Ethanol from Old Cardboard Boxes

Timothy B. Hurst — Wed, 26 May 2010 16:50:00 +0000

Fiberight hopes to produce 6 million gallons of biofuel per year at a converted corn ethanol plant in Iowa.

About 95 percent of old corrugated containers can be recycled into new paper, but the remaining unusable fiber goes into a mill's waste stream. And for International Paper's Cedar River containerboard mill in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, which produces 1 million tons a year of recycled paper for packaging made from old corrugated containers, that is a lot of valuable fiber that goes unused, until now.

International Paper, one of the largest paper companies in the world, is partnering with Maryland-based Fiberight to take 50,000 tons of residual fiber waste each year from the Cedar Rapids containberboard mill and turn it into fuel-grade ethanol.

Fiberight began accepting residual fiber at a converted corn ethanol plant 25 miles west of Cedar Rapids at the beginning of May. They hope to finish their first batch of ethanol later this week.

"Everyone from the average household to large industrial manufacturers is focused on reducing waste. But the reality is that there will always be a significant waste stream in this country," said Fiberight CEO Craig Stuart-Paul. Fiberight says the residual fiber waste from International Paper provides excellent base-load feedstock for the biorefinery and that the resulting fuel represents an 80-percent reduction in carbon emissions as compared to gasoline.

Fiberight will also begin to accept other household organics at its new facility and after separating, use those organic materials as feedstock for what Stuart-Paul calls, "trashanol."

When fully operational, the company hopes to produce 6 million gallons of ethanol per year.

Photo: Jason Cartwright via flickr/CC 2.0