mardi 28 avril 2009

Mettez de l’intelligence dans votre étiquette

Après la première édition de Prospective dédiée à la nanotechnologie, voici le deuxième numéro dédié aux imprimés intelligents.
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Les progrès technologiques ont permis le développement d’emballages dits intelligents intégrant de nouveaux systèmes d'étiquetage. Ces nouvelles étiquettes mettent à la disposition du consommateur une information claire et objective sur l’état de conservation d’un produit. En proposant des dispositifs d’information qui « parlent » directement au consommateur, les emballages intelligents devraient permettre de garantir la traçabilité, la qualité et la sécurité des produits jusqu’au consommateur. Le développement des procédés d’impression combinés à de nouveaux détecteurs/senseurs laisse présager un avenir très prometteur en termes d’applications et de possibilités pour l’imprimerie.
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dimanche 26 avril 2009

The packaging that peeves

The Star asked readers as part of our Beat the Wrap campaign to send us photographs of their packaging gripes and dozens of you responded. You sent in pictures of skin cream, kitchen cloths, vitamins and environmentally friendly products wrapped in extensive packaging. We chose a representative sample and asked the manufacturers for an explanation.

PRODUCT: L'ORÉAL REVITALIFT SKIN CREAM

Mel Goddard wrote: "As you can see, the package is rather over-large for the size of the jar. One could argue, perhaps successfully, that this style of packaging is used to deter theft ... but good lord, can no one come up with a better way?"
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L'Oréal Paris response: "A package is part of the product itself, fulfilling multiple functions such as enabling safe transport of the product from the moment it leaves the factory, throughout its journey to the consumer and eventual disposal; and thus acts as protection from external conditions (light, oxidation, steam, etc.).

"Your reader will be happy to know that the Revitalift product packaging has already been planned to be reduced before the end of 2009.

PRODUCT: BIO-VERT DISHWASHER TABLETS

Denise Benning-Reid wrote: "When I opened the tub I was frustrated to find the tablets were each individually wrapped in plastic and then needlessly packed in larger plastic bags. How environmentally friendly can that be?"

Bio-Vert response: "The tabs are soluble in high humidity. This is what happens when you eliminate phosphate in this kind of product. This is why we had to double the wrapping, single wrap for tab and one wrap to protect the whole packaging.

"We decided to launch our green dish tabs last year as we felt that it was better for the environment to offer a solution to blue algaes right away and protect our lakes. However, we knew we had to improve our packaging ... Our coming solution, to present to buyers of major retailers in September 2009, is a water-soluble wrap for the tablet and no additional wrapping."

PRODUCT: NATUREGG ORGANIC EGGS

Franke James wrote: "The packaging that really irritates me is organic eggs (free range) in plastic cartons. The ... eggs are healthier for humans than the alternative, but why do they have to package them in nonrecyclable plastic? Why don't they use recyclable cardboard?"

Burnbrae Farms response: "The carton to this day is and always has been made from post-consumer plastic and ... we currently pay and have always paid a premium to have high-grade PET (recycled polyethylene) that can be recycled. The (municipal recycling) depots just need to commit to separating them from the waste stream along with the pop bottles." (Toronto currently does not separate plastic egg containers from the other clamshell food containers that are made of different plastic.)

As for not using fibre, they explained: "We were marketing a product that required a nutrition facts panel and that people did not understand, so we needed to explain about feeding the chickens flaxseed to get the omega-3 into the eggs. There was no space on the fibre carton available at the time.

The only alternative was foam, but it was neither recyclable nor made from post-consumer recycled materials, so this was not of interest to the company."

PRODUCT: LOBLAW PRESIDENT'S CHOICE BRAND ORGANIC LETTUCE, SPINACH

Michele Gare wrote: "I think it's great that Loblaw wants to promote being good to the environment and making responsible choices and I prefer to buy organic whenever I can. Ever since they introduced these huge, plastic boxes (that are nonrecyclable in Toronto) ... I just can't seem to justify the trade-off. I'm buying organic to preserve the Earth and be healthy but at the same time have to discard the packaging into landfill ... I now buy my produce somewhere else 90 per cent of the time as they have it out loosely or in bags that can be recycled."

Loblaw response: The company refused to comment on the specific plastic packaging. Instead, it referred the Star to its 2007 Corporate Social Responsibility report, which said the company planned to "divert 70 per cent average overall waste generated by our stores from landfill in fourth quarter 2008."

PRODUCT: OSRAM SYLVANIA COMPACT FLUORESCENT BULBS

Jill Silk wrote: "Plastic wrap packaging outrages me. It is the plastic wrap packaging containing the new 'light bulbs' that we are encouraged to use to reduce energy consumption!"
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Osram Sylvania response: "We are packaging many of our new CFL products using the Sylvania Smart Pack – recycled paperboard packaging with no plastic ... Smart Pack packaging has resulted in 40 per cent reduction of materials and 30 per cent reduction in transportation-related air pollution since we can ship more efficiently and reduce our shipping needs.

"Virtually all of our light bulb packaging is recyclable and contains between 30 per cent and 100 per cent post-consumer recycled fibres."
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samedi 25 avril 2009

La vérité sur les mensonges du marketing vert

L'un semble venir forcément avec l'autre. Dans les deux dernières années, l'offre de produits se drapant dans le vert pour séduire les consommateurs a connu une croissance exceptionnelle dans les commerces de détail au Canada et aux États-Unis. Mais ce qui devrait être une bonne nouvelle pour les adeptes de l'écologisme à tout crin n'en est finalement pas une.

Pour cause. 98 % de ces produits portent une tare bien de notre temps: ils pratiquent le lavage vert -- greenwashing, comme disent les esprits critiques vivant de l'autre côté de la rivière des Outaouais. Le lava quoi? Lavage vert, ou l'art de se montrer socialement et écologiquement responsable, même si ce n'est pas totalement vrai.
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Sceptique? Pas convaincu? C'est pourtant l'organisme TerraChoice Environmental Marketing qui se charge une fois de plus de cette douloureuse dénonciation. Depuis 2007, ce groupe de consultants passe au crible, annuellement, le monde de la marchandisation de l'écologisme afin d'en décoder les bonnes mais aussi les mauvaises pratiques, qui, avec 98 % -- ça, c'est 100 % moins 2 -- semblent assez généralisées, merci.
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Entre novembre et janvier dernier, les limiers de TerraChoice ont analysé un peu plus de 2200 produits verts dits de consommation courante vendus dans les magasins d'ici et des États-Unis. En substance, ils ont mis la main dans les couches-culottes (propres!), le dentifrice, les crèmes pour le corps, les jouets, les produits d'entretien, les fournitures de bureau ou encore les matériaux de construction. Entre autres.
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Ces produits étaient porteurs d'espoir et de bonne conscience pour leur clientèle cible, mais surtout d'environ 5000 allégations à saveur écolo, indique le rapport intitulé Les sept pêchés du lavage vert/Allégations environnementales sur les marchés de la consommation, que le groupe vient tout juste de rendre public.
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Et malheureusement, la quasi-totalité de ces prétentions n'a pas résisté au jeu de la vérification des faits. Les règles n'étaient pourtant pas très sévères. TerraChoice s'est basé sur la norme ISO 14021 en matière d'étiquetage environnemental et s'est fié aussi aux lignes de conduite que se sont données la US Federal Trade Commission, le Bureau de la concurrence du Canada et l'Australian Competition & Consumer Commission.
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Pis, le groupe qui avait défini par le passé six péchés de lavage vert, soit six bonnes manières de bien tromper ses clients en leur faisant prendre des vessies pour des lanternes vertes, vient, au regard de cette enquête annuelle, d'en ajouter un septième: le «péché d'adoration de la fausse étiquette». Répandu chez plusieurs distributeurs canadiens, souligne TerraChoice, le stratagème consiste à apposer sur un produit un logo qui s'inspire fortement et/ou grossièrement de ceux émis par de véritables organismes de certification du développement durable.
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Bien sûr, ce logo ne veut rien dire, ne s'appuie sur aucun système de contrôle et brille simplement sur l'emballage dans le but de duper les consommateurs. Un quart des produits analysés commettait cette offense divine dans les temples de la consommation, indique le rapport. Sombre époque.
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Les autres produits, eux, n'étaient pas en reste puisqu'ils ont fait vibrer, en 2008, au moins une des six cordes des autres péchés du marketing vert tels que définis par l'organisme. En tête de liste, le «péché du compromis caché» qui consiste à mettre de l'avant les bienfaits écologiques d'un produit pour mieux occulter un ou des effets pervers du même produit sur l'environnement. Un papier issu d'une forêt gérée dans une optique de développement durable reste un papier pour lequel il faut couper des arbres.
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Le péché d'absence de preuve arrive ensuite. Tout ce qui prétend «combattre le réchauffement climatique» entre certainement dans cette catégorie. Idem pour les produits qui prétendent contenir des matériaux post-consommation recyclés, sans toutefois fournir trop de détails sur cette contenance, ont constaté les enquêteurs de TerraChoice. Pour vendre le vert, «l'imprécision» est aussi une arme redoutable -- et le troisième péché en importance: le concept du «tout naturel» que l'on croise souvent sur les étiquettes en est une belle illustration. Surtout quand on se souvient que l'arsenic, l'uranium, le mercure ou encore le formaldéhyde sont des substances naturelles extrêmement dangereuses pour la santé.
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Vient ensuite l'offense de la non-pertinence, commise lorsqu'on souligne dans un produit l'absence d'une substance dont l'usage est de toute façon interdit par la loi à la grandeur du pays. C'est le cas par exemple des chlorofluorocarbures (CFC). Le «péché du moindre des deux maux» a aussi ses adeptes et consiste à donner du lustre vert à un produit qui, malheureusement, ne pourra jamais en avoir. Il est question ici de cigarettes biologiques, ou encore de véhicules utilitaires sport (VUS) qui prétendent être recyclables à 95 % après 15 années de production de gaz à effet de serre sur les routes.
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Enfin, moins répandu mais tout de même présent, le «péché de fabulation» complète cette longue liste de la duperies. Particulièrement vicieux, il se matérialise sur des produits qui se disent biologiques sans avoir de certification officielle ou encore qui disent se conformer à la norme Energy Star, sans preuve. Il prouve aussi, avec la ribambelle d'autres insultes à l'intelligence des consommateurs, que si le marché des produits verts est bel et bien en croissance, de 79 % entre 2007 et 2008, estiment les auteurs du rapport, celui de la supercherie verte continue de bien se porter, merci. Et, quoi qu'en disent les marchands de rêves et autres exploiteurs de tendances, ce n'est certainement pas la planète qui va le plus en profiter.

Source : Le Devoir
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mercredi 22 avril 2009

RFID News: Market and printed intelligence

RFID Market Forecasts 2009-2019

In 2009 IDTechEx find that the value of the entire RFID market will be $5.56 billion, up from $5.25 billion in 2008. This includes tags, readers and software/services for RFID cards, labels, fobs and all other form factors. The majority of this spend is on RFID cards and their associated services - totalling $2.99 billion. The market for RFID is growing and a large amount of this value is due to government-led RFID schemes, such as those for transportation, national ID (contactless cards and passports), military and animal tagging.

RFID tags from UPM Raflatac connect a French magazine to the internet


The French publication Amusement is bridging the divide between traditional print and online magazines. Each 700 g copy of the magazine focusing on new technology and lifestyle is equipped with a UPM Raflatac RFID tag - providing readers with a link to exclusive content online.

The latest issue of Amusement is the result of a joint effort between French high-tech company Violet and GS1 France. NFC tags (size 15x15 mm) from UPM Raflatac are fixed in the middle of the first double page of Amusement's fourth issue. The NFC tag is designed to work with Violet's new 'Mir:ror' RFID interrogator, which plugs into a computer's USB port. When the magazine's RFID-tagged page is brought near the interrogator, the tag's unique ID number is scanned and exclusive online content launched.
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Sécurité alimentaire : Les composants de l’encre sous surveillance

Les composants de l’encre migrant de l’emballage vers l’aliment peuvent en modifier les qualités organoleptiques et constituer un risque de salubrité et de sécurité alimentaire.
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Ci-dessous l’article qui vient d’être publié dans le magazine "Québec imprimerie" (Numéro 15, Avril-Mai 2009).
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Dans l’industrie alimentaire, l’emballage est au centre de nombreuses discussions en ce qui a trait tant à son impact environnemental qu’à ses propriétés barrières, à son interactivité avec le consommateur ou aux risques de contamination du contenu. Les matériaux d’emballage doivent, en effet, à la fois protéger et conserver le contenu emballé, en constituant une barrière inerte entre l’aliment et l’environnement extérieur. De nombreuses substances volontairement incorporées dans les emballages (tels que des additifs, colorants, mais aussi des constituants des encres et des colles…) sont susceptibles de migrer vers l’aliment.

En Europe, plusieurs cas de migration des composants des encres vers les aliments ont fait les manchettes. Par exemple, à la suite du retrait du marché italien de deux millions de litres de lait pour nourrissons en 2005, Nestlé Italia et Tetra Pak International viennent d’être jugés responsables des « dommages de nature psychologique » occasionnés aux parents dans un communiqué stipulant que le lait consommé par leurs enfants avait été contaminé par un produit se trouvant dans l’emballage d’isopropylthioxanthone (ITX). Dernièrement, la Commission Européenne a demandé à l’autorité européenne de sécurité des aliments (EFSA) d’évaluer le risque lié à la présence du 4-méthylbenzophénone dans certains aliments. Cette demande fait suite à une notification des autorités allemandes, qui ont constaté une migration suspecte de ce produit chimique depuis l’emballage vers un produit céréalier. Pour l’EFSA, ce composé pourrait, dans certains cas, constituer un risque pour la santé des consommateurs.

Ces incidents récents mettent en avant la migration à travers l’emballage de photoinitiateurs, tels que la 4-méthylbenzophénone et l’isopropylthioxantone (ITX). Communément utilisés dans les encres UV, ceux-ci permettent d’initier le séchage par le déclenchement d’une réaction de polymérisation.

La migration des composants de l’encre n’est pas une problématique totalement inconnue, mais elle est encore mal cernée et peu étudiée. Elle peut se produire soit par migration à travers le support, soit par contact direct entre la surface imprimée et la surface non imprimée, ou encore par transfert par phase gazeuse. Depuis peu, ce phénomène de migration s’est complexifié avec l’arrivée de nouveaux matériaux souples, innovants et biodégradables, de nouvelles encres et de nouvelles technologies d’impression d’emballage.

Au Canada, cette question est d’autant plus d’actualité, que d’ici 2010, Santé Canada et Environnement Canada évalueront 17 substances (pour la plupart des pigments et des encres utilisés en imprimerie) susceptibles de devenir une source de préoccupation pour l’environnement et pour la santé humaine.

L’urgence de tests

Pour éviter que des substances potentiellement migratrices provenant de l’encre ou du support d’impression ne contaminent les denrées alimentaires, il devient primordial de développer des tests et méthodes destinés à détecter rapidement ces phénomènes et à quantifier les faibles concentrations de contaminants migrant à partir d’emballages alimentaires imprimés.

L’ICGQ se propose donc de concevoir et de développer des outils d’intervention permettant d’étudier et d’évaluer les phénomènes migratoires des composants de l’encre à travers l’emballage. De tels outils prémuniraient les industriels de l’agroalimentaire des risques de contamination et, par conséquent, des pertes considérables occasionnées par le rappel massif de leurs produits, auquel s’ajoute l’impact négatif sur leur image de marque.
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mardi 21 avril 2009

Bioplastics News : Revolution and concerns

The Brazilian Bioplastics Revolution

The production of plastics from renewable sources constitutes the next frontier in the search for ways to mitigate our dependency on oil and reduce our environmental footprint. The country at the forefront of these tantalizing developments, however, is not commonly perceived as being a technology powerhouse. Brazil is leading the way in this industry after decades of research and commitment to a technology based on sugarcane ethanol. The technology has proven to be environmentally sustainable and potentially capable of changing the way we manufacture everything, from personal care products to automobiles.

Unlike typical plastics made from crude oil, “bioplastics” are often made from plant matter such as corn starch, potato starch, cane sugar, and soy protein. A potentially renewable alternative to petroleum-based plastics would have the long-term benefits of reducing global warming pollution and our dependence on fossil fuels, but do bioplastics fit the bill? As they become more ubiquitous—in the form of grocery bags and disposable plates, food containers, and cutlery—numerous concerns have been raised about their true value.
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lundi 20 avril 2009

Pack News of the week: Packaging elimination and phthalate contamination


Wal-Mart wants to eliminate all waste by reducing, recycling or reusing everything that comes into its 4,100 American stores by 2025, and for Asda, its British operation, the target is 2010, reported UK Times Online.

The giant retailer aims to reduce the amount of packaging in the supply chain 5 percent by 2013, and is working with suppliers to help find sustainable packaging solutions. The retailer recently hosted its fourth annual Sustainable Packaging Expo in Rogers, Ark., and discovered a cardboard box, made by Interstate Container, that stays waterproof for two weeks, is biodegradable and made of recycled cardboard, which may help the superstore meet its sustainability goals, according to UK Times Online.

Studies link packaging chemical to childhood obesity

Endocrine disruptors such as phthalates used in food packaging could be linked to childhood obesity, according to two studies from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

Researchers found children in New York's East Harlem are three times more likely than other children in the US to be overweight, and they said that high levels of the packaging chemicals found in the children's urine may play a role in obesity by disrupting hormones that regulate growth and development.
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dimanche 19 avril 2009

Beat the Wrap : No Time to Waste

Old habits die hard. But they can be changed, as anti-smoking and drunk driving campaigns have proved. We are learning to recycle our garbage, which is perilously close to exhausting our landfills. But experts say that's not enough. The crucial challenge is to reduce it.

"We have been completely drilled into thinking of recycling as the solution to this problem of packaging (...) It is not. Recycling is the last thing you would do before you throw it away. What we really have to do is teach the hierarchy of the `Three Rs'; we must reduce first, then reuse and, finally, recycle." Heather Marshall, Toronto Environmental Alliance.


BY THE NUMBERS
  • 383 kg Amount of solid waste generated by each Canadian in 2002

  • 20% Percentage of that waste that was recycled or otherwise diverted

  • 1 million Coffee cups discarded daily in Toronto

  • 1 million Plastic water bottles discarded daily in Toronto

  • 1 billion Bottles of water consumed by Canadians in 2008

  • 400-800M Estimated number of those bottles that end up in landfill

  • 1% Percentage of municipal solid waste in 1960 that was plastics

  • 15% Percentage of municipal solid waste in 2001 that was plastics
Sources: Statistics Canada, Human Activity and the Environment report, 2005; City of Toronto; Polaris Institute


THE SERIES
  1. Apr 18, 2009: Why we have to cut down on packaging; how we got so wrapped up.

  2. Apr 19, 2009 : Trying to live a week without plastic; reducing the carbon footprint at the Air Canada Centre.

  3. Apr 20, 2009: Super-size packaging a legacy society finds tough to shrink.

  4. Apr 21, 2009: What you can and can't recycle throughout the GTA.

  5. Apr 22, 2009: Making the producer responsible for packaging waste; 10 things you can do; finding a substitute for plastic.
BEAT THE WRAP

Waste packaging is choking our future as our landfills near capacity. Yet examples of excessive packaging destined for landfills can be found every day in virtually every store in the GTA.
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The Star wants you to tell us about the worst. Send us a photograph of the product in its packaging, along with an email telling us what it is and why you think it ranks among the worst.
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We'll present the evidence to those who can do something about it.
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Send your photographs to Fanpix@thestar.ca with "Beat the Wrap" in the subject line.
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Yi : Le boomerang en PLA, biodégradable et compostable

Dans un souci d’être un précurseur en matière d’innovation dans le sport du boomerang et adoptant la même démarche pour respecter l’environnement que ces produits en bambou, le designer Stéphane Marguerite vient de concevoir un tout nouveau modèle à base de PLA (Polyester thermoplastique biodégradable dérivé de l’acide lactique).
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jeudi 16 avril 2009

Biodegradable Label Less Eco-Friendly Than It Promises

South Africans buying products with "biodegradable" plastic packaging are often duped by companies eager to profit from the current trend towards environmentally-conscious consumerism. While the plastics do break up into small pieces, they remain toxic and potentially dangerous to human health.

In an attempt to reduce pollution and the amount of waste going into limited landfill space, the country has started to buy into a newly developed form of plastic that rapidly degrades, known as oxo-biodegradable plastic. However, these plastics have come under fire by environmentalists because, contrary to how they are marketed, they are not truly biodegradable.

Lack of environmental regulation means that labelling can be misleading and consumers don’t necessarily get what they are promised. South Africa does not have a certification system in place which distinguishes between degradable and biodegradable plastics.

Oxo-biodegradable plastic is, like other plastics, petroleum-based, with an added chemical which breaks up the product into tiny little pieces. As a result, these plastics don't take up space in landfills but they produce toxic dust that pollutes the environment and is known to be detrimental to human health.

Last year, British manufacturer Symphony Environmental Technologies clinched a deal to supply plastic packaging to Albany Bakeries, a subsidiary of South African food giant Tiger Brands. It claims its packaging contains an added chemical compound that causes the plastic to degrade in less than six months, leaving behind no fragments or harmful residues.

However, environmental experts say this is not good enough to be rated biodegradable. "To be beneficial to the environment, a polymer [plastic] should disappear completely. In biodegradation this means a natural conversion to CO2 and water," explained Bruno de Wilde, lab manager at Organic Waste Systems (OWS), a Belgium consulting company that tests and certifies the biodegradability of consumer products and packaging.

Not certified

Another problem with oxo-biodegradable plastics is that they can only be safely and successfully recycled if they are captured into the recycling stream within a few days of use.

"In waste collection you don’t know how old plastics are, so it is likely that in the mechanical sorting process, oxo-biodegradable plastics could end up in the manufacture of other products and continue to degrade," said David Hughes, executive director of the Plastics Federation of South Africa who has convinced industry heavyweights like Coca-Cola and Woolworths to steer clear of oxo-biodegradable plastic.

"Recycling companies won’t want to take products made from oxo-biodegradable plastics. This will disrupt the recycling industry which is creating jobs in South Africa," he added.

Albany Bakeries is not the only company in South Africa trying to appeal to environmentally conscious consumers by marketing its packaging as biodegradable.

Astrapak, one of the biggest producers of plastic packaging in the country, manufactures a plastic degradable garbage bag made from petroleum-based granules into which it will degrade after usage.

But environmental experts like de Wilde, warn that the minuscule plastic fragments the bag degrades into may enter the food chain and pose health risks. Most plastics contain harmful chemicals, such as sulphur and ethylene oxides, which can cause respiratory and reproductive problems.

To date, oxo-biodegradable plastics have not met the internationally-accepted standards for compostable and biodegradable packaging which ensures that a product breaks down completely in a landfill or an industrial compost heap. To be certified as biodegradable, a product must be fully tested and approved by internationally-recognised bodies, such as the Institute for Standards Research (ISR) and the International Standards Organisation (ISO).

As there is no certification system in place which distinguishes between the terms ‘degradable’ and ‘biodegradable’ in South Africa, it has meant that companies are able to punt their packaging as being biodegradable and therefore environmentally-friendly.
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The Seven Sins of Greenwashing

Your eyes aren’t deceiving you, but the labels might be. There are more products claiming to be green on the shelves of stores these days, however those ‘all-natural’ and ‘organic’ products are likely committing at least one of the Seven Sins of reenwashing, by not telling the complete truth. Between 2007 and 2009, the in-store availability of so-called ‘green’ products has increased between 40% and 176%, with 98% of products surveyed still committing at least one Sin of Greenwashing, according to a report on the Seven Sins of Greenwashing released by TerraChoice Environmental Marketing.


1. The Sin of the Hidden Trade-off, which occurs when one environmental issue is emphasized at the expense of potentially more serious concerns. In other words, when marketing hides a trade-off between environmental issues. Paper, for example, is not necessarily environmentally preferable just because it comes from a sustainably harvested forest.

2. The Sin of No Proof. This happens when environmental assertions are not backed up by evidence or third-party certification. One common example is facial tissue products that claim various percentages of post-consumer recycled content without providing any supporting details.

3. The Sin of Vagueness, which occurs when a marketing claim is so lacking in specifics as to be meaningless. “All-natural” is an example of this sin. Arsenic, uranium, mercury, and formaldehyde are all naturally occurring—and poisonous. “All-natural” isn’t necessarily “green.”

4. The (new) Sin of Worshipping False Labels. This is when marketers create a false suggestion or a certification-like image to mislead consumers into thinking that a product has been through a legitimate green certification process. One example of this sin is a brand of aluminum foil with certification-like images that show the name of the company’s own in-house environmental program for which there is no explanation.

5. The Sin of Irrelevance. This sin arises when an environmental issue unrelated to the product is emphasized. One example is the claim that a product is “CFC-free,” since CFCs are banned by law.

6. The Sin of Lesser of Two Evils, which occurs when an environmental claim makes consumers feel “green” about a product category that is itself lacking in environmental benefits. Organic cigarettes are an example of this sin.

7. The Sin of Fibbing. This is when environmental claims are outright false. One common example is products falsely claiming to be Energy Star-certified.

A full copy of “The 2009 Seven Sins of Greenwashing” report is available online.

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mercredi 15 avril 2009

Growing compostable plastic bag use


Confusion might still lingers on what bioplastics really mean but their use is definitely growing.

In the compostable bag sector, SunChips maker Frito Lay announced that they are going to launch in 2010 the world's first fully compostable chip bag of its kind, with the bag fully decomposing within 14 weeks - when placed in a compost bin or pile. See the video below!

The company will use NatureWorks polylactic acid plastic Ingeo (usually made from corn) in the packaging's outer print web film and inner barrier web film. The adhesive layer gluing the two films together will be made with other "also" eco-friendly material.

Frito Lay said it did not replace all the materials with PLA as there is currently not enough PLA supply available at this time and there are still work needed to maintain the packaging's quality. The company, by the way, also explains the difference between degradable, biodegradable, compostable and renewable plastics.

Meanwhile, KMart in Australia last month said that they are going to use bioplastic shopping bags for their 12 stores in South Australia using Cardia Technologies Limited's Biograde compostable bags. South Australian Government's ban on plasticcheckout bags takes effect on 4 May 2009.

In Minnesota, the state's Department of Administration, Materials Management Division picked Northern Technologies International's Natur-Tec(r) Compostable Plastic Bags for various state agencies' use.

In addition, under Minnesota's Cooperative Purchasing Venture (CPV), entities such as counties, cities, townships, school districts, charitable organizations and community clinics are also eligible to procure Natur-Tec(r) compostable plastic bags from NTIC at the prices and terms negotiated with the State.
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mardi 14 avril 2009

Over-Packaging : Reduce before Recycle

Ever order something and it arrives in a really big box—a much-too-big box? Paper products, such as the cardboard boxes used for shipping and packaging, make up one-third of the municipal solid waste in the U.S. Could we cut back?

Consumer Reports says people routinely send in letters complaining about small items arriving in way too much packaging. To check the problem, Consumer Reports ordered small items from 13 companies, including Avon, Staples, drugstore.com, Oriental Trading Company, and Best Buy. Consumer Reports was really surprised to find that so many tiny items came in boxes that were way too big.

For example, a package from drugstore.com contained just one lip balm. A box from Avon arrived with just one lip balm as well. Inside a box from the Oriental Trading Company—just one small vial of beads. And a box from Staples—it could easily fit 200 pencils but contains…just one.

Not everything arrived over sized. A small pack of batteries ordered from Quixtar came in a small shipping envelope.

Less packaging could make a real difference. If Americans cut back the use of cardboard from 100 tons to 90, it would save more than 5,300 pounds of waste…20,000 gallons of waste water…and more than 34,000 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent.

Some companies, such as Avon, Staples, and Lands End, told Consumer Reports that they recycle thousands of tons of cardboard a year.


lundi 13 avril 2009

Emballages intelligents et lutte contre la contrefaçon des médicaments

Philippe DECLERCK, Directeur général de PACKETIS, insiste sur l’importance des emballages intelligents dans la lutte contre la contrefaçon des médicaments. L’emballage, qui revêt une dimension importante dans l’univers pharmaceutique, doit pouvoir remplir des fonctions d’authentification, d’identification et de traçabilité. Le marquage « Seal Vector », visible ou non, répond aux besoins d’authentification des produits sur lequel il est apposé et embarque sa propre technologie permettant ainsi de nombreuses applications, utilisables notamment pour lutter contre les médicaments contrefaits.

dimanche 12 avril 2009

Plastic bag obsession is carrier for environmental ignorance

It's time to refocus; plastic bags are not the scourge of the planet, their biggest evil is to distract us from more pressing causes.

Don't get me wrong – I don't like plastic bags either. We use too many of them, just as we use too many of all the earth's resources. They litter the countryside and cause problems for wildlife when they end up in the sea. But their total impact is microscopic by comparison to almost anything else we do. As environment writer George Marshall records in his excellent book Carbon Detox, our annual average consumption of bags produces 5kg of carbon dioxide a year. Total average emissions are 12,500kg.

Plastic bags aren't even a very large component of domestic waste. Plastics in general – according to a study by South Gloucestershire district council – account for 18% of total household waste. Plastic bags account for 18% of the plastic, which means 3.2% of total waste. Clingfilm (23% of domestic plastic waste) produces a greater proportion than plastic bags.

So why this fetishisation? Because dealing with plastic bags is easy. Easy for the government, easy for retailers, easy for shoppers. It threatens no one, makes money for the shops (if they charge for their bags) and ensures that everyone feels better about themselves, while continuing to trash the biosphere just as we did before.

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vendredi 10 avril 2009

Bioplastics: Concerns and Responses

London Bio Packaging (LBR) believes that bio based plastics are the most environmentally friendly materials available and play an important role in creating a more sustainable society.
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Recently some have challenged whether bio-plastics are actually environmentally friendly. London Bio Packaging raises these issues and responds to them.

The Concern: Bio-plastics do not break down in landfill and if they do they create methane.

LBP Response:

In the UK the majority of landfill sites are now containment sites. This means that the landfill is lined and leachate and gas that is produced is collected. Bio-plastics will break down into compost in as little as eight weeks in an industrial composting facility. There are currently over 100 composting facilities in the UK and many more are being planned and built. Anaerobic digestion (an in vessel form of composting) takes what is apparently a waste product (such as post use food and bio packaging) and turns it into two useful commodities: compost and energy!

It should also be remembered that the problems of landfill apply to other wastes such as conventional plastics.

Mostly conventional plastics are sent to landfill because very few forms other than bottles can be recycled in the UK.

London Bio Packaging has developed its own closed loop composting system whereby bio packaging and food waste is collected and taken to a composting facility. All that is left at the end of the closed loop process is compost that farmers use to fertilize fields. (The fields could then grow more crops to make packaging!)

One key environmental benefit of using bio-plastics is they have a lower carbon footprint thus helping to combat climate change. Bio-plastic (PLA) emits 0.75 kilos of carbon dioxide per kilo of resin as compared with conventional plastic (PET), which emits 3.4 kilos of carbon dioxide per kilo. So bio-plastic emits 77 percent less carbon dioxide. This is not just a marginal difference but a hugely important step in fighting climate change!

The Concern: Bio-plastics use crops that would otherwise be used for food.

LBP Response:

The amount of corn used worldwide for bio-plastics in 2007 was about 250,000 tonnes. In 2007 the US alone produced 332 million tonnes of corn (in addition the US grew numerous other food crops including sorgum grain - 12.8 million tonnes, rice - 10 million tonnes and soybean - 70 million tonnes).

The percentage of US food production that would be used for worldwide bio-plastics production is 0.0005 percent. This does not take into account all the other food produced worldwide. This cannot be considered to have an effect on food scarcity, especially when compared to bio-fuels which used approximately 18 percent of US grain production in 2008. The raw material for bio-plastic production is plant starch. With technological developments, soon the starch will be taken from any biomass or crop waste and not the crop parts used in food production.

The Concern: If bio-plastics are sent to recycling facilities they will contaminate the waste stream.

LBP Response:

Currently bio-polymers account for a small percentage of overall conventional plastics use. As such they currently have little affect oil based plastic recycling.

Other polymers, i.e. PP or PVC, are already in widespread use and can also contaminate recycled PET plastic waste streams, so this is not something unique to bio-polymers. It is also possible to separate bio-plastics from the waste stream in the same way as other materials. More modern sorting/recycling facilities already have the ability to do this, but it may require investment in infrastructure in some recycling facilities.

But, the future always requires investment! Otherwise we will be stuck using oil, emitting lots of carbon and sending waste to landfill. The environmental costs of not developing sustainable materials and processes will outweigh the investment in bio-polymers.

The government must lead on putting in place the infrastructure for dealing with bio-plastics and compostable waste. There are vested interests in both the packaging industry and waste management organisations to focus on oil based plastics and diverting waste from landfill at the expense of real sustainable materials and solutions.

The Concern: Degradable plastics break down into tiny pieces which pollute the environment.
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LBP Response:

Yes degradable plastics (also called oxy degradable plastics) have even more negative environmental impacts than conventional oil based plastics! Degradable plastics are different from biodegradable plant-based plastics (bio-plastics). They are conventional oil based plastics with additives that break them down into tiny pieces.

Degradable plastics do not have the renewable resource and low carbon benefits that plant based bio-plastics have, but also when they break down into tiny pieces, they pollute the environment. Research suggests the tiny pieces spread through the eco system and act as transporters for nasty chemicals such as DDT.

The concern: Recycled plastics are preferable to bio-plastics.

LBP Response:

Recycled plastics are a strong environmental option where good infrastructure for recycling exists (such as with bottles) or where bio-plastic applications are not currently suitable (i.e. some microwaveable packaging). Recycled plastics (like rPET) provide many environmental benefits over conventional virgin plastics and LBP does offer rPET products. However, recycled plastics are not ideal and not a long term solution. They still rely on a large percentage of oil (about 50 percent recycled is a standard maximum). Oil is unsustainable and sooner or later will run out! Importantly the carbon emissions associated with recycled plastic production are higher than bio-polymers.
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jeudi 9 avril 2009

BookBeo : vos emballages rentrent dans l'ère du numérique!

Avec bookBeo, vos emballages interagissent avec vos clients grâce à une simple étiquette ou un code imprimé!

BookBeo développe pour vous un système de communication numérique utilisable très simplement sur vos emballages.

En pratique, vous appliquez sur vos emballages le cryptogramme aussi appelé "Beocode". Ce cryptogramme est en fait un code bi-dimensionnel, du même type que ceux employés en logistique ou en pharmacie. Ce cryptogramme est spécifique à votre produit, c'est un identifiant personnalisé créé et géré par bookBeo.

Lire la suite sur Breizpack
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mercredi 8 avril 2009

Nouvelles emballantes de la semaine

Packaging solutions for climate change

Minimising food packaging, boosting processing efficiency and avoiding food waste could make powerful contributions to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the US food industry, according to a new report.

“Processing can be on the order of 10-20 per cent of a food product’s life cycle GHG [green house gas] impact, especially for prepackaging meals or other prepared foods. Most of this impact comes from the heat and electricity requirements of processing equipment,” write the report’s authors.

YDreams invente le quotidien interactif

Un T-shirt qui change de couleur, un damier apparaissant sur une table en verre ou un emballage en carton animé : l'entreprise portugaise YDreams s'est spécialisée dans la création de produits "interactifs" qu'elle espère bientôt voir commercialiser.

L'initiative, qui bénéficie de fonds publics, "est partie de YDreams qui a proposé ce projet à des partenaires qui ont tout de suite été très enthousiastes", précise Mme Henriques. Parmi ces partenaires, figurent notamment le leader mondial de la fabrication de bouchons de liège, Corticeira Amorim, le papetier Portucel ou encore le groupe diversifié Sonae

Ce produit interactif "est composé de matériaux électrochromiques pouvant agir sur la couleur d'un support la faisant passer de l'état invisible à l'état visible grâce à l'action d'un courant électrique de faible voltage (environ 1,5 volt)",

Tropicana’s carton stock is SFI-certified

Tropicana Products, Inc. has announced that the paperboard used in its juice cartons has received certification to the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) fiber sourcing standard.

“Demand for products from responsibly managed forests is increasing worldwide, and with today’s announcement, Tropicana joins a growing number of companies that are demonstrating their environmental commitment by using the SFI label on its products,” says SFI Inc. president and CEO Kathy Abusow. “At a time when just 10 percent of the world’s forests are independently certified, Tropicana has taken a leadership role by supporting global efforts to improve forest practices.”
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mardi 7 avril 2009

Organic and Printed Electronics – Excellent Packaging

Packaging serves product protection and advertising. Organic and printed electronics should help manufacturers upgrade packaging plastics to active early warning systems or cardboard boxes to multi-media information carriers. Current trends and the latest developments in this area will be on display at the LOPE-C in Frankfurt, Germany from June 23-25, 2009.

Heading Toward Smart Packaging

In the future, however, packaging should offer many more functions. Manufacturers are now developing “Smart Packages” that can:
  • Provide additional information in various languages
  • Read product inserts to the visually impaired
  • Inform patients of product interactions with other drugs
  • Ensure product authenticity through integration of fraud resistant electronic codes
  • Signal when the expiration date of a food product is reached or the cold chain has been interrupted
  • Provide power for all electronic components through solar cells and batteries printed directly onto the package
Organic and printed electronics play an important role in the realization of these additional functions.

Read more

lundi 6 avril 2009

2009 PLACE Flexible Packaging Summit

The Flexible Packaging Industry will converge April 28-30, 2009 in Columbus, Ohio, USA for the 2009 TAPPI PLACE (Polymers, Laminations, Adhesives, Coatings and Extrusions) Flexible Packaging Summit. The event will include the two-day Consumer Packaging Solutions for Barrier Performance Course and the Symposium on Nanomaterials for Flexible Packaging.

View Summit Brochure.

I will attend the symposium to give a speech entitled: “Printed Intelligence in Packaging: Current and Potential Applications of Nanotechnology

Food safety and counterfeiting: Could Nano-Printed Intelligent Packaging be a Solution?

dimanche 5 avril 2009

Packaging of the week: Wine in an Eco-Friendly Tube

FOUR Wines, a pioneering company committed to innovative, sustainable alternative packaging, has developed the first-ever luxury California wine in a “tube”.


  1. Reduces Carbon Footprint by 50% vs. traditional wine packaging: A standard wine bottle holds 750 milliliters of wine and generates about 5.2 pounds of carbon-dioxide emissions when it travels from California to a store in New York. FOUR 3-liter tube generates about half the emissions per 750 milliliters.

  2. Reduces Wine Bottle Landfill Waste by 85% vs. traditional Wine Packaging

  3. 100% Recyclable Materials---
  4. Labels Produced at a printer utilizing wind-power: All of the electricity for the printing facility is purchased from a company that produces the electricity through wind turbines. Supports alternative energy sources and helps create “green collar jobs”.

samedi 4 avril 2009

France : Dix priorités agro-industrielles de recherche et développement

Michel Barnier, ministre de l'agriculture et de la pêche, a lancé début février une réflexion stratégique visant à définir dix priorités agro-industrielles de recherche et développement, accompagnée par un comité de pilotage national, rassemblant des acteurs publics, de grandes entreprises, des chercheurs et des pôles de compétitivité.

A l’issue de ces travaux, le ministre a annoncé le 24 mars les 10 priorités présentées dans ce document, dont l’ambition est le développement de projets industriels et la mise sur le marché de produits et services innovants et créateurs de richesse.

Parmi ces 10 priorités figure : La traçabilité et l’emballage

Enjeu : un nouveau packaging pour répondre aux besoins de sécurité sanitaire des produits, aux nouvelles formes de consommation et au respect de l'environnement

L’essor de nouveaux matériaux d’emballage permet d’intégrer les exigences réglementaires relatives à la traçabilité des produits et aux impératifs de sécurité sanitaire. Les innovations portent en particulier sur les emballages actifs capables d’interagir de façon intelligente avec un contenu agroalimentaire.

Les nouveaux emballages permettront, d’améliorer les caractéristiques organoleptiques et nutritionnelles des produits frais ou précuisinés.

Ils répondent également aux exigences de respect de l'environnement et de gestion des déchets par l'utilisation de matériaux recyclables et la réduction de la quantité d’emballage dès la conception des produits.

Ces nouveaux types d’emballages constituent pour les industriels agro-alimentaires, un atout pour conquérir de nouveaux marchés à l’exportation.

Le chiffre d'affaires du secteur est en France de 18,3 milliards d'euros (3% de l’industrie manufacturière totale). Depuis 2000 sa croissance est de 10% par an.

Exemples de produits et services innovants

Les puces technologiques sur les emballages assurent une meilleure traçabilité et une meilleure sécurité alimentaire.

A titre d’exemple, les scientifiques de l’Université de Brême et une entreprise néerlandaise ont programmé des étiquettes mesurant, pendant le transport et le chargement des denrées, la température ambiante et permettant ensuite de calculer la qualité et la durabilité des produits.

D’autres exemples comme les films alimentaires comestibles et les nouveaux emballages intelligents permettent une meilleure préservation des aliments

Enfin, la conception d'emballages intégrant l'étiquetage environnemental des produits de consommation, contribuant à informer le consommateur sur les bilans carbone, constitue en outre un enjeu majeur.
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vendredi 3 avril 2009

Bioplastics show potential but some hurdles remain

New developments could help bioplastics emerge from its early infancy in the coming years, according to a report from Environmental Data Services, but some obstacles still remain.

Bioplastics are a form of plastics derived from renewable biomass sources, such as vegetable oil, corn starch or pea starch. However, many are reliant on fossil fuel-derived energy for their manufacturing.

While this would appear to give them solid environmental credentials, EDS identified a number of “false dawns” for the polymers eight years ago. Even two years ago supermarket Asda declared that it was switching to bioplastics… but now does not use them at all.

European Bioplastics says bioplastics make up 0.20 per cent of the total plastic market in the EU, which is estimated to weigh in at 48m tonnes per year.

However EDS believes that the polymer’s time may have come at last, as early performance problems have been addressed, and manufacturing has become more efficient.

One example is the possible introduction of plant-derived non-biodegradable that are said to be “functionally and chemically identical to their oil-derived counterparts”, such as Brazilian bio-propylene from sugarcane ethanol. Such materials would be able to fit into existing processing and recycling structures, EDS notes.

Another is a polylactic acid (PLA) product from Natureworks in the US, which launched new fermentation technology in 2008 that significantly reduces carbon emissions in line with those of recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET). Moreover its lower density is said to mean less material is needed for the same strength product.

End of life hurdles

European Bioplastics optimistically projects that the bioplastics market in Europe could reach 5m tonnes by 2020, some 10 per cent of the total plastics market (as it stands today). This would require growth in the sector of 35 per cent per year.

Despite the potential, there are still some significant hurdles to bioplastics becoming a big hit – not least what to do with them once their useful life is over.

“The bottom line is that while many bioplastics do appear to offer substantial environmental gains over conventional materials, much depends on whether they end up being landfilled, incinerated pr composted, and how different environmental objectives are weighted,” said the ENDS report.

While bioplastics that are not incinerated or routed to landfill are likely to be composted and should, in theory, be accepted by composters, often they are not out of concern that they could be contaminated with conventional plastics.

Another option could be anaerobic digestion, whereby the packaging could be fed into digesters together with waste food. However there is still limited capacity for this form of disposal, and many bioplastics manufacturers are still conducting tests.

Food price issue

At the recent PCD Congress in Paris Professor of Bio-polymer Science and Engineering Stéphane Guilbert warned that materials used for making bioplastics are often derived from sugarcane and cornstarch – important sources of food.

By harvesting these crops to make packaging, environmentally-conscious companies could be inflating food prices in developing countries, he said.

However a spokesperson for European Bioplastics told FoodProductionDaily.com last year that bioplastics have no impact on the food supply and availability situation, and technical solutions to use mainly non-food crops in their manufacturer are under investigation or already in use.

She called for all parties involved in their production to support sustainable development of bioplastics, and to take into account that no raw material has unlimited availability and therefore the most efficient use of resources must be achieved.
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jeudi 2 avril 2009

Cerealus Introduces Safer, More Sustainable Food Packaging

For years the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has been investigating perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a synthetic chemical used as a coating to make food packaging like sandwich wrappers and popcorn bags resistant to grease.
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Major PFOA manufacturers have agreed to eliminate the chemical by 2015, and a company in Maine has already developed an alternative to PFOA, recently releasing it for packaging makers to test.
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Materials developer Cerealus has spent about a year and a half on its PFOA replacement, Holdout, a coating additive based on corn protein, a byproduct typically used as animal feed.
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Read more…
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Lidl : des milliers de paquets de céréales retirés de la vente

Des milliers de paquets de muesli ont été retirés en février des rayons des 1.400 magasins Lidl de France, suite à la contamination de ces céréales par une composante toxique utilisée dans l'encre des emballages.

Des muesli au chocolat et aux fruits. Voilà les deux produits concernés par la contamination. "Nous avons été informés le 6 février par notre maison mère qu'il fallait retirer de la vente deux références (…). Les marchandises ont été retirées le 9 février", a déclaré Jérôme Gresland, directeur des achats de Lidl pour la France, confirmant une information du Canard enchaîné.

Le signalement de la maison mère était consécutif à une alerte du système d'alerte européen pour les denrées alimentaires (RASFF), après qu'un contrôle sanitaire eut mis en évidence en Allemagne la présence de 4-méthyl benzophénone (4-MBP) dans des céréales, a précisé M. Gresland.

L'Autorité européenne pour la santé des aliments (EFSA) a fait savoir le 4 mars que "la consommation régulière de produits fortement contaminés" par la molécule incriminée pouvait présenter "dans des cas extrêmes un risque pour certains enfants". La branche française de Lidl a décidé de son propre chef de retirer les produits de ses rayons, "par précaution", a souligné M. Gresland.

"A aucun moment la Direction générale de la concurrence, de la consommation, et de la répression des fraudes (DGCCRF) ne nous a demandé de procéder à un rappel des produits" déjà vendus, a-t-il dit.

Source
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mercredi 1 avril 2009

Campbell’s wants your packaging ideas!

Campbell Soup Company is inviting scientists, entrepreneurs and inventors to submit their ideas via a new Web site called “Campbell’s Ideas for Innovation.” The site, which can be accessed at http://www.campbellideas.com/, has been established to provide an easy way for people to submit their innovative ideas to Campbell for evaluation.

Campbell is focused on generating ideas in the areas of new products, packaging innovation, product line extensions, environmental sustainability, business processes and marketing. The company also is interested in new technologies related to sodium reduction, vegetable nutrition and healthier fats and oils.

Carl Johnson, Campbell’s Chief Strategy Officer, said, “Campbell has had a solid track record for innovation in the categories in which we compete: soup and simple meals, baked snacks and healthy beverages. We are committed to improving our innovation results, and a key element in this improvement requires us to be open to ideas from both inside and outside the company. The Ideas for Innovation Web site is one of the ways we are accessing innovation from outside sources.”

The Ideas for Innovation Web site is designed to provide an effective way for Campbell to review and evaluate unsolicited ideas by offering people who do not work for the company an easy way to submit ideas.

Ideas submitted to Campbell through the Ideas for Innovation program will be evaluated by a team assembled for this purpose. Ideas will be reviewed and evaluated by someone with direct knowledge of the relevant business or function and who will determine whether there is an interest in pursuing the idea.

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Smart Packaging: Intelligent paper

Last year’s listeriosis outbreak killed almost two dozen people and raised difficult questions about Canada’s food safety system. The incident, and others like it, has led U of T researchers to pose an intriguing scientific query: Can such disasters be averted with “smart” packaging that warns consumers when a food product has gone bad?

This is exactly what Ramin Farnood, a chemical engineering professor, and PhD student Peter Angelo are investigating in a project backed by Canada’s Sentinel Bioactive Paper Network and the University of Toronto’s Pulp and Paper Centre.

The core of Angelo and Farnood’s invention is a specially coated paper that glows when an electrical charge is applied to it. In their U of T lab, they layer special inks, conductive polymer film and electro-luminescent coatings on to conventional paper. These coatings essentially transform a non-conductive surface – in this case, paper – into a luminescent display.

Engineers have used similar technology to create conductive plastic films that provide the back lighting in cellphone displays and digital watches. The trick with paper is that you need to alter the surface structure of the paper and formulate special inks in order to create a functioning device. Farnood and Angelo apply these inks using a conventional electronic printer to make letters and shapes that glow when a charge is supplied, either by “plugging in” the paper or attaching it to a battery. Eventually, they hope to incorporate an ultra-thin battery right into the paper.
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According to Farnood, such paper could also be coated with substances that react when exposed to certain pathogens or chemicals. The reaction would act as a switch to turn on the luminescent message printed on the paper’s surface. The message might warn consumers that the food is contaminated.
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Farnood also envisions putting a paper-based biosensor in safety or construction masks. The masks will then be able to warn the wearer if he or she is being exposed to a harmful substance.
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Because this technology is paper-based, it’s renewable, biodegradable and sufficiently flexible to use in the myriad forms of packaging found in a supermarket. If Farnood and Angelo are able to refine their invention, that familiar “Best Before” stamp may soon be past its expiry date.
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Nouvelles emballantes de la semaine


L’eau en bouteille, l’eau en PET tout particulièrement, représente un triple scandale. Un scandale écologique d’abord, puisque du fait de son emballage et de son transport sa consommation suppose une dépense d’énergie mille fois plus importante que celle de l’eau du robinet. Et ce sans présenter le moindre avantage comparatif, ni en termes gustatifs, ni en termes sanitaires. Un scandale publicitaire ensuite, puisque les mensonges les plus grossiers sont émis pour vendre ce produit. Un scandale politique enfin, parce que les pouvoirs publics restent totalement inertes devant le problème et ne prennent même pas la peine de répondre aux attaques proférées contre l’eau du robinet qu’ils gèrent eux-mêmes.

Le «bon et bio» se refait une beauté

Aujourd'hui, pour séduire le gourmet sensible au discours bio mais pas forcément militant, il faut d'abord «l'emballer». Avec un contenant chic et attrayant de préférence. Car on veut bien craquer pour une alimentation bio et équitable, à condition qu'elle soit désirable et goûteuse. Heureusement, on note quelques efforts en épicerie fine.
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Tesco tells shoppers: too much packaging? Leave it with us

Tesco is to encourage customers to discard unwanted and excessive packaging near the tills, in an experiment along the lines of a similar "take-back" scheme in Germany. The supermarket chain has already cut back on what it regards as "wasteful" packaging, such as bulky dog food bags and unnecessary plastic wrapping on food. A regional trial will now try to find out which kinds of packaging consumers are prepared to do without.

World’s first certified compostable net bag


Giró launches worldwide first certified complete compostable net bag. The new net packaging system developed by Giró comprises 100 % compostable materials certified according to EN 13432 for net and etiquette.