The Gillette Fusion ProGlide Over-packaging // suremballage

The Gillette Fusion ProGlide have too much packaging.

By the way, As part of its 2020 sustainability goals, in late September 2010, P&G announced plans to reduce packaging by 20%; to replace 25% of all petroleum-based materials with sustainably sourced renewable materials; and to eliminate entirely the use of PVC in packaging within the next few years.

Below video with comments in French

Le Bilan de 2011. Emballage papier : Fonctionnel, Pratique et Éco-responsable

2012 est à nos portes, c’est l’heure du bilan!

Mes nouveaux engagements et mes nombreux déplacements m’ont laissé moins de temps pour bloguer. Je dois aussi partager ce temps consacré au web 2.0 avec les nouveaux médias sociaux, Twitter (ici) et le Groupe que j’ai crée sur LinkedIn : PAPER-BASED PACKAGING (ici).

Je vous présente mes meilleurs voeux pour 2012. Que cette nouvelle année soit emballante, innovante et éco-responsable!

      I.  Conférences et présentations : L’année 2010 fût très riche en conférences et présentations. Voici un condensé de mes diverses communications:

1)   Papier Recyclé et Sécurité Alimentaire: Migration des huiles minérales. Cliquez ici pour télécharger cette conférence que j’ai donnée dans le cadre de la Conférence complètement flexo  organisée par L’Institut des communications graphiques du Québec (ICGQ). 

2)    Recyclable coatings for paper foodservice packaging. You can download here this talk given last November 15th, 2011 in New York (NY, USA) at the Fall Resource Recovery Conference organised by the Global Green USA Coalition for Resource Recovery. 

3)    Emballage papier : flexible, pratique et éco-responsable. Cliquez ici pour télécharger cette conférence que j’ai donnée dans le cadre de la deuxième édition du colloque sur l’éco-responsabilité organisé par l’Institut des communications graphiques du Québec (ICGQ). 

4)   Bio-coated Paper-Based Flexible Packaging: Functionality and Sustainability. You can download here this talk given at the 2011 TAPPI PLACE Flexible Packaging Symposium, April 5, 2011 in Orlando, Florida USA. 

5)     Case Studies: Functional and Sustainable Paper-based Packaging. You can download here this talk given at the Pira International's fifth annual Sustainability in Packaging conference, February 22-24, 2011 in Orlando, Florida USA. 

Par l’ailleurs, c’est déjà confirmé, en 2012, je serai au (Cliquez sur le titre pour accéder au programme complet):

1)    TappiPlace Conference May 6-9, 2012, Seatle, Washington, USA. Packaging: Functional and Sustainable Coating. You can download here the Technical Program 

2)  Université d’hiver2012. Les 48 heures de la communication pour le développement durable. Les 16 et 17 février 2012 au SPA Eastman en Estrie au Québec. Emballage et suremballage : Au lieu de parler de zéro emballage, il serait plus adéquat de parler de Lutte contre le suremballage; un phénomène qui coûte cher au fabricant et suscite des réactions du client. L'emballage est un bien nécessaire plutôt qu'un mal. Il joue un rôle majeur dans la protection et la conservation des aliments en garantissant la sécurité alimentaire. Il constitue aussi un atout majeur dans la réduction des pertes de produits périssables. Vous pouvez consulter ici, le programme des deux journées.  

    II.  CQVB : Biocomposites et emballages actifs. Cette année, j’ai eu la chance de réaliser deux mandats pour le Centre québécois de valorisation des biotechnologies (CQVB) :

1)      Bioveille: Biocomposites dans l'industrie automobile. L’épuisement des gisements pétroliers, les variations imprévisibles du coût du baril de pétrole et la prise de conscience environnnementale de la nécessité de penser à des options de rechange aux ressources fossiles stimulent la recherche pour développer de nouveaux matériaux renouvelables. Dans ce contexte, les biocomposites s’avèrent être un filon particulièrement intéres¬sant. Obtenus par introduction de fibres naturelles dans une matrice de plastique biodégradable, pétrochimique ou recyclé, les biocomposites sont appelés à remplacer progressivement les matériaux composites issus de la pétrochimie. 

2)     Biotendance : Emballage alimentaire… de passif à actif : Ce numéro de BioTendance® offre un panorama des plus récentes applications des emballages actifs dans le secteur de l’emballage alimentaire. Les enjeux et les cadres réglementaires seront aussi évoqués. Ce numéro sera publié début 2012.

   III.  Articles de vulgarisation. Finalement, en 2011, j’ai été invité à rédiger/contribuer à quelques articles de vulgarisation:

1)   Carton recyclé et sécurité alimentaire : une barrière fonctionnelle à la rescousse! Publié dans le Numéro de juin 2011, du journal interne de Cascades : Le Cascadeur. Cliquez Ici la version francaise & here for english version (Recycled Cardboard and Food Safety: A Functional Barrier to the Rescue!)  

2)     Un Design Emballant : des emballages écolos, beaux, pratiques et efficaces…L’article de Mathieu Gobeil publié dans le magazine Québec Science. Cliquez ici pour consulter l’article.

Ten packaging machinery trends for 2012

With the North American economy beginning to show some positive signs, there is a pent-up demand for new packaging, new products, new acquisitions, and new technologies to increase packaging line productivity. B&R Industrial Automation's packaging market development manager John Kowal--who is also a board member of both the Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute and OMAC--predicts packaging machinery trends that will emerge from this environment.

1. Sterialization will gain ground

2. Condition monitoring will add value

3. Accelerating software convergence in packaging
4. Brazil will be on your radar

5. Retail ready…or not, here it comes

6. Safety first…and next
7. Plant seeds now to win big later
8. Advanced technologies for turnkey systems
9. Better interaction with operators on individual machines
10. NA and EU OEMs consolidate

Read full article

Five Global Packaging Trends than Could Change your Life

Here are PackagingDiva 5 packaging trends that you cannot overlook for 2012.

1.     Eyeballs Everywhere : Everyone will be watching what you do with your product packaging. Increasing scrutiny will come from US regulatory agencies such as the FDA, FTC, international agencies and watchdog groups such as the Copenhagen accord and of course consumers. They want to tell you to what you can or cannot say on your packaging, what materials it should be made of, how much material you can use and how you should dispose of it.

Packaging phrases to watch for:

§ Packaging Bans and Mandate

§ External Regulatory Agencies

§ WrapRage

§ Misleading Consumers

2.      Private Label Prevails : CPG’s (consumer products) are under attack as consumer battle economic woes. It’s now not as much about the brand as it is about the value of what’s inside. If you have noticed many of the 1st tier brands are being moved to less attractive shelf space due to the advent of private label brands for most retailers.

Packaging phrases to watch for:

§ Private Label

§ Generic

§ Economical

§ Value Packaging

§ Branding

§ Marketing

§ Rebranding

3.     Information Overload : Ever wonder about all those icons, symbols and slogans on your packaging?  What they really mean? As companies struggle to craft winning messages they are creating their own symbols, slogans and icons many of which are meaningless. So no wonder the consumer is confused about the validity of these messages.

Packaging phrases to watch for:

§ Certification Symbols

§ Frustration-Free Certification

§ Self-certification

§ Greenwashing

§ Branding

§ Marketing

§ Advertising

4.     Green Goes Mainstream : Packaging accounts for 30-35% of the waste stream and consumers are concerned what to do about it. They are demanding less packaging and that serves a secondary purpose or can be recycled or reused.

Packaging phrases to watch for:

§ Recyclable

§ Compostable

§ Sustainable

§ Biodegradable

§ Bioplastics

§ Bioresins

§ Greenwashing

§ Repurposed

§ Precycling

§ Eco-friendly

§ Extended Producer Responsibility

5.     Your Packaging Does What and Where? Gone are the days of packages sitting prettily on the shelf. There is too much competition so companies are looking for unique ways to engage the consumer. Much of this revolves around interactive packaging and social media where consumers are engaged through secondary actions. Smart or intelligent packages that help you make an informed decision or at the very least point you in the right direction. The mobile consumer is the target of most of these packaging innovations.

            Packaging phrases to watch for:

§ Augmented Reality

§ 2D Barcodes

§ Social Media

§ Facebook

§ Twitter

§ Smart Packaging

§ Intelligent Packaging

§ Nanotechnology

§ YouTube

§ Virtual Stores

§ Smartphones

Read full article…

A responsible supply chain is a delicate balancing act

In a recent conversation with a large client, I was very encouraged to learn that the responsible supply chain is becoming an integral part of product and packaging strategy for them and also for their competitors. Setting corporate sustainability goals around products and packaging, adhering to national and regional regulations, holding suppliers accountable to become more environmentally and socially conscious, have made it into boardroom discussions and corporate strategy.

Businesses are finally looking at sustainability in product lifecycles as new regulations are being formulated or enforced around the world.  Companies are also seeing growing consumer demand for green products. Responsible supply chains span every phase of a product’s lifecycle – design, manufacturing, packaging, transportation and disposal.

Below is a sample of questions businesses should ask of themselves to understand how to be more responsible:

1. Design: How do we reduce the use of material (dematerialize) and impact to the environment (decarbonize)? Or have early considerations been given to make the product conducive to remanufacturing or recycling after its end of life?
2. Manufacturing: What portion of the product is made out of renewable, recycled, or remanufactured material? How efficient are the manufacturing processes from material use, energy consumption, emission and waste generation viewpoints?
3. Packaging: While ensuring that the functional requirements of packaging are not compromised, what proportion of the total material is reused, recycled and renewable?  Are there any banned non-recyclable material used in the packaging? What metrics are multi-brand retail customers such as Wal-Mart and Tesco using to rank and manage the sustainability performance of their suppliers are you prepared to adhere to such customer scorecards.
4. Transportation: Are you considering the impact that shipping has on the environment? Have you considered optimal vehicle design to improve fuel efficiency? What clean fuel sourcing strategy do you have in place or are considering? Have you enforced truck idling reduction policies or made investments in optimizing route planning?

Managing and maintaining an optimal harmony among what goes as input to the supply chain, what is made and how much goes as waste is critical to responsible supply chain and to good product stewardship. In my next blog I will write about life after the end of life of a product and how it can be a powerful solution to reducing waste and curtailing pollution.

Source

Protecting energy wood with a paper-based biomass cover saves time and money

Sonoco will invest about $75 million to add a new biomass boiler to its plant in Hartsville, replacing two aging coal-fired boilers. The new boiler will be fueled primarily by woody biomass created by regional logging activity but can also run on natural gas. The boiler will produce about 16 MW of "green" energy that will be consumed by the manufacturing complex, as well as steam that is used in the papermaking process. The company will also upgrade a machine that produces corrugated paperboard, as well as emission-control technology on another boiler at the plant. (Source)

My comment:

Turning woody biomass from the forest into green energy seems to have a bright future. We are offering a biomass cover, a cover material made mainly of paper which shelters logging residue from rain, snow and freezing. Thanks to the cover, the energy content of the wood rises as the solids content increases. Experience has shown that the solids content of wood can be raised by as much as 10–15% by using the cover. 

30 Brilliant Social Media Marketing Tips From 2011

Via Hubspot Blog

With so many great social media marketing tips getting shared in the blogosphere, we wanted to pass along some of the best tips and ideas that came up in 2011. These are tips that, if you haven't benefitted from them yet, are evergreen enough that you can continue to leverage them well into 2012 to make your social media marketing rock.

1. Write blog content for your target audience, which is not necessarily yourself. 

2. If you’re going to use social media for customer service, mirror your hours of operation on Twitter to the hours of operation you have for your support team. 

3. Measure social media ROI by analyzing how it performs compared to more established channels or advertising methods. 

4. Mobile check-in deals aren’t just for restaurants and bars. 

5. How frequently you blog does count. 

6. Hashtag-stuffing tweets doesn’t work. 

7. If you follow more people than are following you, you could harm your Twitter account’s SEO potential. 

8. Building an online community? Show your power users that you appreciate their contributions. 

9. Blog about the problems your product or service solves – not about the product or service. 

10. Think of marketing as storytelling, and think of your customers as the characters. 

11. Depressing tweets, vague tweets, tweets about your weight loss – and of course, our favorite, the humblebrag - these are all messages that are better kept to yourself. 

12. What does your social media strategy really need? It needs to answer simple questions.

13. Publishing a blog post on your company blog? Post several tweets of that post and track the success of different times and keywords for your followers. 

14. Stop talking about yourself if you want more retweets. 

15. The medium isn’t the message. 

16. Choose to measure social media metrics that tell you how you’re doing based on why you’re doing social media in the first place.

17. Use geo-location Twitter searches to identify local prospects to connect with. 

18. Use social media data to find your key influencers, outline your media plan, and develop your messaging. 

19. Create a Facebook group to stay connected with those you meet at conferences months after the last panel. 

20. Consider the timing of your social media posts – time of day, time of week, and time of year. 

21. You don’t need the voice of influencers – you need your brand advocates. 

22. Have a common name? Use checkusernames.com to test personal brand monikers that will work for your social media handles and domain. 

23. Plan your editorial calendar for what ebooks can result from your blog posts. 

24. If you’re going to tell people to “like” your company on Facebook, have something of value waiting there for them. 

25. If your company makes a mistake on social media – think rogue tweets – step out and own up to the mistake. 

26. Use social media contests as an opportunity to learn more about your customers. 

27. Here are three universal content blueprints to include in your company’s blogs: offer a new opinion, create a killer list, or teach your customers how to do something. 

28. Leverage social search and boost your rankings for target keywords by offering content (ebooks, webinars, etc.) and having community members pay with a tweet. 

29. Include social sharing and follow buttons on your site, your blog, and in your emails. 

30. It seems obvious, but an often disregarded quality of great community and social media managers is great social skills.