L’emballage n’est pas un déchet !

L'emballage n'est pas inutile. Il sert à protéger les aliments et donc à éviter le gaspillage ! Mieux, il doit être vu non comme un déchet mais comme une matière première aux nombreuses vies potentielles…

Tout le monde semble avoir oublié à quoi sert un emballage… Les estimations de la FAO (l’Organisation des Nations unies pour l’alimentation et l’agriculture, ndlr) montrent que selon les pays entre 20 et 75 % des denrées alimentaires sont perdues. En Europe, par exemple, jusqu’à 30% des aliments sont gâchés, soit près de 71 millions de tonnes par an, près de 300 kg par habitant ! Les chiffres sont cruels car ils ne trompent pas : plus l’emballage est développé dans un pays, moins il y a de pertes ; c’est inversement proportionnel… Dans les pays sous-développés, malgré la faim qui est la première cause de mortalité enfantine, le premier consommateur d’aliments est hélas la poubelle.

La principale fonction de l’emballage est de conserver ce qu’il contient : c’est un contenant qui protège durablement un contenu. Deux éléments méritent d’être rappelés :

1. Le premier est purement physique : s’il protège ce qu’il contient, l’emballage évite les gaspillages. Qu’est-ce qui est le plus irresponsable : gaspiller des produits alimentaires ou, éventuellement, gaspiller du matériau d’emballage ?... Depuis l’invention de la boîte de conserve au XIXe siècle, le packaging a sauvé des milliards de vie et il est, dans la plupart des cas recyclable ; c’est en cela qu’il est totalement responsable.
2. Le second est l’utilité du packaging trop souvent oubliée dans les pays occidentaux : le commerce. Sans emballage, pas de commerce… L’emballage a permis et permet encore de développer les échanges Est-Ouest, Nord-Sud, de denrées alimentaires. Se dire qu’il n’existe pas de packaging responsable, c’est une approche de « bobos »… ! Lorsque nous disposons de tout à volonté, il est décidément bien difficile de distinguer le superficiel, de l’essentiel.

Il se trouve que le packaging a un défaut majeur, celui d’être visible, dans le caniveau, dans les champs et lorsqu’il déborde de nos poubelles. C’est une pollution visuelle. Mais le problème ne porte pas sur la responsabilité ou l’irresponsabilité du packaging ; il s’agit juste d’une question « d’éco-responsabilité » des industriels et des consommateurs. On se donne donc bonne conscience quand on « attaque » le packaging pour éviter d’aborder la véritable question : celle de notre façon de surconsommer.

Lire la suite…

7 Sustainable Packaging Predictions

Plastics Today asks Tony Kingsbury, the Dow Chemical executive-in-resident at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business, about  the current state of the sustainable packaging market and where it's headed. Kingsbury begins his assessment with a good news/bad news scenario based on a statistic from the United Nations: The earth will have 9 billion human inhabitants by 2050. On the positive side for a company such as Dow that's a lot of people who will require a lot of stuff; on the negative side, however, all that stuff requires resources, which in some cases are becoming scarce.

Prediction #1: Resource efficient packaging will win

"It's not just the bottle, it's how it fits into the overall scheme, from production to shipping," Kingsbury said, explaining that the key drivers will be carbon and water. "We're not just running out of water, we're running out of clean water," Kingsbury said.

Prediction #2 Functionality will be key

As resources become scarce, it will be that much more important to protect product, consider the carbon footprint of cheese, how much goes to waste if it spoils.

Prediction #3 Keeping the molecule in play

Don't landfill, "don't bury or litter plastic." Recycle any content you can. "Once you get a big enough pile of something, someone will figure out how to recycle it," Kingsbury noted.

Prediction #4 Reuse will gain market share

Reuse will keep packages, and the molecules that make them up, in play longer than one use.

Prediction #5 Biobased packaging materials will grow, but not necessarily biodegradable

Kingsbury said this relates to carbon efficiency, but can create conflicts with water usage, and he stressed that biobased materials cannot compete with food. "We don't need the package if it displaces the food it would have packaged," Kingsbury said, forecasting that biobased versions of traditional polymers like PE, PET, and PP will dominate vs. new "upstart" molecules like PLA and PHA, and materials that emphasize compostability will not have a role to play. "Composting is an inefficient way to keep the molecule in play," Kingsbury said. "I think the word biodegradable should be banned. I said it. What does it mean? Compostable yes, biodegradable, no."

Prediction #6 Transparency will drive full life cycle thinking about packaging

At this point in time, most of the discussions are around base materials, but in the future, everything will be assessed, including additives, inks, dyes, glues, coatings, and more. As an early example, Kingsbury cited PVC, where public concern transitioned from the base material and chlorine monomer to today where phthalates get the attention.

Prediction #7 Life cycle data will drive decision making on materials

Reduce what you use and you will save resources and money, states Kingsbury.

Gas Prices Trigger Switch From Plastic To Paper

Goodbye Clamshell: more companies are making the switch from clamshell to paperboard.

Packaging Europe: Innovations in paper and board packaging/ Bioplastics: A viable Alternative?

I recommend these two interesting articles published on the latest edition of Packaging Europe.

Innovations in paper and board packaging

Paper-based materials are the focus of some of the most innovative developments in the packaging

industry today. Packaging Europe picks out some of the most notable innovations in the field – from papermaking machinery and coatings to packs and containers.

Bioplastics: A viable Alternative?

As relatively new materials still only in their second generation, bioplastics currently have a

global market share of well under one per cent. But with the development of more sophisticated

plant-based materials an increasing reality, are we going to see a significant growth in their

uptake for packaging over the next few years? Victoria Hattersley talks to some industry experts to find out more.

Read more…

Nothing says “Green Supply chain” Like Innovative, Sustainable Packaging

I share with you this great article on sustainable packaging written by Dave Meyer is VP of Sustainable Economic and Environmental Development Solutions (SEEDS) Global Alliance (Northwest Operations).

The pea pod is possibly the greatest sustainable packaging design nature can provide.  It packs a lot in a small space, efficiently uses the minimum amount of resources…and best of all its compostable…well sort of unless I eat it!

And like the simple pea pod, few sustainability attributes in a supply chain come together across the value chain than packaging.  Packaging and repackaging is ubiquitous along every step of the chain, from product design, prototyping, procurement production, distribution, consumer end use and post consumer end-of-life management.  And the more parts that are in use in making of a product, and steps along the way to deliver the parts, the greater the packaging (and hence environmental footprint) involved along that chain.  And for every packaged part that comes from someplace else to make a product, a similar carbon, energy and resource use can be measured.

Read more…

Bioplastic News: Prosperity? Eco-friendly? Magically disappear?

Bioplastics projects set to prosper

The recession has been a wake-up call for chemical producers to push bioplastics development, resulting in a more positive outlook.

With the price of oil and petrochemicals soaring, bioplastics have become an increasingly viable proposition. As a result, the next decade will see a fundamental shift in global polymer production, with a group of new bio-based capacities being brought on stream.

New forecasts from industry association European Bioplastics suggest that global bioplastics output will breach the 1m tonne/year mark this year, with production to more than double from 2010-2015. The study shows that bioplastics will total 1.7m tonnes/year within the next four years, up from around 700,000 tonnes/year in 2010

Read more…

Compostable cups eco-friendly?

Western purchased 133,000 compostable cups from Eco-Products from September 2010 through June 2011 for $11,280.36, according to transaction record obtained from Paul Cocke, director of University Communications.

When put in landfills, biodegradable products are not necessarily more environmentally friendly according to a study published in “Environmental Science & Technology,” in May 2011. The research found biodegradable products are releasing large amounts of methane as they quickly break down in landfills. The study was designed to provide guidance to manufacturers on environmental performance during landfill disposal that reflects U.S. landfill infrastructure, according to the study. Researchers used a landfill life-cycle model to estimate greenhouse gas emissions from biodegradable materials in landfills.

Read more…

Biodegradable Products are not Major contributors ro Landfill Methane emissions

Biodegradable products are not major contributors to methane emissions from landfills, as claimed in the Environmental Science & Technology (ES&T) article.

Finally, the BPI shares Dr. Barlaz’s concern for the growing number of “biodegradable” claims, for products that are typically landfilled. Many of these claims are spurred by additive suppliers that would like consumers to think that it is OK to throw products in the trash, as they will somehow magically disappear. The National Advertising Division of the Better Business Bureau (NAD) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have repeated determined that these types of claims are misleading.

Read more...

Sustainable packaging market at $107.7B in 2011

Sustainable & green packaging is gaining prominence in the global packaging market and is gradually becoming an essential area for industry players, says a new study by UK-based researcher Visiongain.

The sustainable & green packaging market is experiencing a rise in demand from consumers, and this is made possible due to advanced packaging technologies. Although the market was negatively impacted by reduced margins due to pressure from higher production costs involved, the sustainable & green packaging industry still stands firm and is likely to enhance its market share in the global packaging industry. Visiongain calculates that the sustainable & green packaging market will be worth $107.7 billion in 2011. 

Rising concerns over environmental hazards, eco-friendly packaging, carbon emissions, waste reduction targets specified by different countries and the trend towards 'green packaging', are the factors likely to boost the market for sustainable & green packaging solutions. The sustainable & green packaging market is likely to register consistent growth during 2011-2021, mainly influenced by rising environmental concerns, increasing health awareness, high disposable incomes, rapidly growing economies, dearth of natural resources and high-energy consumption. The North American and Western European economies are successfully established markets. However, the growing economies of Asia-Pacific (India and China), Eastern Europe (Germany and Russia) and Latin America (Brazil) offer tremendous potential to explore.

Read more…

Puma Shopping Bag Dissolves in 3 Minutes

German shoe and sports apparel company Puma is on a mission to reduce its carbon “paw-print,” starting by making its packaging more environmentally responsible.

Dossier : Comment faire un emballage pratique et respectueux de l’environnement?

Un excellent dossier préparé par Preventpack

 

"Dossier : Comment faire des emballages convenient (pratique) respectueux du développement durable ?"

"Exemple Panasonic : Facilité d'utilisation : ni coûteuse, ni néfaste pour l'environnement"

"Exemple Tetra Pak : Un emballage plus facile d'utilisation pour les consommateurs ayant une moindre dextérité"

"Polyvalence des emballages : Au-delà des rôles classiques de l'emballage"

 

Cliquez ici pour consulter l’intégralité du dossier.

ThermaFresh : La glacière éco-responsable en carton recyclé et recyclable

La nouvelle glacière de carton est désormais offerte aux consommateurs par l'intermédiaire de la Boutique Cascades. Dérivé des produits ThermaFresh^MC utilisés pour la conservation et la distribution commerciale de poissons frais, ce modèle est spécialement conçu pour les activités estivales en plein air. La glacière présente une solution de rechange écologique aux glacières à usages limités non recyclables, puisqu'elle est composée à 70% de fibres recyclées en plus d'être recyclable.

La coquille extérieure de la glacière est entièrement faite de carton NorShield^®certifié FSC^®. Hydrofuge, elle est résistante aux intempéries. La partie interne isolante est constituée de carton nid d'abeilles recouvert d'un papier métallisé qui agit comme barrière thermique. La glacière portable est aussi performante que les glacières à usages limités traditionnelles.

Ce premier modèle plein air est parfaitement adapté aux activités extérieures telles que le camping, la plage et les pique-niques. Il est facile d'y ranger breuvages et nourriture. Pliable et dépliable, elle facilite le rangement entre les utilisations.

Cette nouveauté cadre parfaitement avec les valeurs de Cascades et son offre de produits novateurs à faible empreinte écologique fabriqués à partir de matières recyclées et recyclables.

Source : Boutique Cascades