A Case Study by Amie Thomas, Marketing Manager of Paktech-Opi

The ‘sustainability’ buzzword is appealing, but not always something easy for companies to incorporate. What if one isn’t able to purchase ‘green’ power from their provider, or simply can’t utilize non-petrol based raw materials? Well, corporations need to be able to do the best they can to make their products and processes more environmentally friendly.

One of the most productive things consumer goods processors can do is reduce their overall packaging materials because once the goods are sold, the end-of-life scenario is in the hands of the consumer. Whether it’s recycled or thrown away, the sheer quantity of material matters, so packaging reduction is a very effective way of making a difference in this green movement.

Many companies are ‘light-weighting’ their packaging materials by taking grams of plastic out of bottles and caps, for example. And what about secondary packaging, which is needed for many retail projects? How necessary or important is a double-wrapped package? It’s not only not important; it’s wasteful. After all, simple package showing off the label, can or bottle can be as effective for billboarding as a wrapped package. And while perhaps those in the packaging industry can more so appreciate a simple, low-waste package, any consumer can recognize an overly packaged product- and it drives them crazy!

Sometimes safety or transportation protocols call for a heavily packaged product, but in many cases it’s a matter of a processor making the decision to change a package. It may not always be a simple formula seeing as how line changes are necessary to do so. However, the results of secondary packaging changes/reductions can be dramatic.

One example we investigated is the palletized beverage can club store scenario. The case involved swapping out a club store packaged pallet with an injected molded handle. Up front, allow me to explain that the ‘resulting’ package was not an ‘apples to apples’ comparison as far as price point or retail goals are concerned.

The ‘before’ package was a 24-pack of Coke cans, and the ‘after’ package was individual 6Paks utilizing PakTech’s handles. The 24-pack of cans was compromised of a cardboard tray within which held 4 individually packaged 6Packs (using standard soda 6pack rings), and which was over- wrapped using a printed shrink. Layers on the pallet were separated by a cardboard slip, so as to not ‘cut’ the plastic over-wrap with the weight of the layers above.

The point of the exercise was to demonstrate the amount of waste associated with paperboard wrapped with printed shrink. This exercise was NOT directed at the CocaCola company or club stores in particular. Rather, this was the only soda product available to purchase locally at our local Costco, and is considered a ‘standard’ package for ‘bulk’ soda can sales. This is also a standard package for distribution, meaning that a wrapped tray of 24 cans arrives at stores, and the secondary package must be unwrapped and disposed of when individual 6Pack are stacked on retail shelves.

The questions are: can these handles replace cardboard and paperboard in a palletized format?
If so, is waste reduction substantial?

The answer to both is: YES!

Continue reading "Secondary Packaging Reduction Works"