A streamlined PET bottle for Kraft Foods' 50-plus salad dressings achieves a 19% reduction in weight over the previous packaging and also provides multiple consumer conveniences.

Belgian sports drink marketer WCUP brings a new packaging concept to beverages in Europe with a 300-mL hybrid bottle made largely of flexible film. The company says the bottle structure answers sustainability demands with a carbon footprint 50% smaller than the PET container it replaces.

Murray's Chicken, New City, NY, is elevating eco-awareness to a higher level in case-ready meat by introducing a film package for fresh poultry that eliminates the use of polystyrene foam trays.

Patrick Sbarra is President of New Creature, an in-store marketing and P-O-P display company that helps Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, and their suppliers to "sell more stuff." Here, he discusses factors that are impacting in-store packaging decisions.

What are the differences in packaging design between the U.S. and Europe?

Creative teams are looking for examples of new packages that provide real benefits for the environment. One recent example comes from Boho Vineyards, San Francisco, CA, which succeeds on the sustainability front by thinking "inside the box."

If you want to operate at the forefront of sustainable packaging, the Greener By Design conference will offer you the strategies, tools, and markets to get there. The conference, hosted by Global Executive Companies, will be June 12-13, 2008, at the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center, Alexandria, VA.

New packages coming on the market demonstrate that the move toward incorporating sustainability goals is accelerating. Kraft Foods is one company working to reduce the environmental impact of its packaging materials.

If fresh research is to be believed, more than 50% of U.S. consumers claim they would surrender all forms of convenience packaging if doing so would benefit the environment.

Home-meal replacement moves a notch higher in Sweden with environmentally friendly trays on ready-made meals from Gunnar Dafgard AB. Billy's Lasagne chilled meals come in molded wood-pulp packaging.

Innovation, sustainability, and global issues will be among the focuses of the fourth annual Packaging Summit Expo and Conference.

With reports stating that Europeans recycle only 7% of the estimated nine billion plastic milk bottles they purchase each year, sustainability efforts are gaining a foothold. One U.K. supermarket chain is doing its part to advance the "green" movement.

If you're a brand manager or package designer, you can play an important role in creating packaging that achieves branding objectives and also uses less packaging materials or incorporates reusable or recyclable materials. So says Amy Zettlemoyer-Lazar, Sam's Club Director of Packaging.

Some of the brightest branding and design minds in the business will highlight this year's FUSE: Design & Culture/Brand Identity & Packaging conference, produced by the Institute for International Research (IIR), will be April 13-16 at Pier 60, Chelsea Piers, New York City.

Sustainability is driving the excess from packaging materials, energy use, and waste. The challenge for brand owners will be to improve product protection and shelf impact while also using materials and technologies that lessen packaging's environmental impact.

In the Pacific Northwest, DANI Natural Products, Bend, OR, is marketing pure soy candles and "ECO" natural reed diffusers in clear containers made from corn-based polymers. The packaging, from NatureWorks LLC, is biodegradable.

The cotton-wicked, soy candles are 100% biodegradable and burn soot-free. The candle's glass receptacle bears a recyclable aluminum lid. After a candle is spent, the receptacle is reusable elsewhere in the home.

The natural reed diffuser oil also comes in glass receptacles with accompanying reeds, and it offers an alternative to traditional incense sticks. The oil provides a safe, flame-free way to slowly diffuse and distribute all-natural fragrances. The reed soaks up the essential-oil blend and is released during burning.

DANI distributes both products through retail boutique stores and at www.danibath.com. Suggested retail price is about $18 for the soy candles and $30 for the reed diffusers.

Some of the brightest branding and design minds in the business will highlight this year's FUSE: Design, Culture, Branding conference (formerly Brand Identity and Package Design). The conference, produced by the Institute for International Research (IIR), will be April 13-16 at Pier 60, Chelsea Piers, New York City.

How much weight does the sustainability factor carry with consumers?

Theft deterrence and product visibility were key requirements in a two-part, snap-fit, thermoformed package for Microsoft's new Windows Vista software sold in select Latin American markets. The use of recycled PET sourced from industrial scrap adds a measure of sustainability to the new pack.

Spartech Packaging Technology makes both the base and lid. The base has a large undercut, into which the lid is snapped once the product has been loaded. A thief would need considerable time and dexterity to separate the lid from the base.

Also important to Microsoft was that the package be easy to load and close using existing assembly and packaging systems. Mission accomplished, says Patti Sullivan, Microsoft Senior Packaging Project Manager.

"As with any design and packaging project, there were rounds of testing and fine-tuning, but from start to finish, Spartech consistently delivered and met required criteria," Sullivan adds.

I recently struck up a conversation with a manager at a company that helps some major U.S. marketers produce consumer packaged products. Steps for integrating sustainability initiatives are wonderful, this manager said, but they quickly can break down in the "silo" mentality that's still prevalent at so many companies today.

It's all about stewardship, life, and energy, and it's playing out in the beauty and health and wellness categories.

Product manufacturers are scurrying to show consumers they have embraced the “green” movement. Frito-Lay joins the parade. The company is adding a “Green-e” designation across the full line of its SunChips multigrain snack packs and becoming one of the first national consumer packaged goods brands to include the Green-e logo on packaging.

A new book breaks through the clutter to offer practical strategies, tactics, and resources to jump-start your sustainable packaging program. Included are case histories and interviews with leading corporations that have adopted environmental stewardship programs.

Wonder Tablitz Corp., Walpole, MA, is performing a sustainability sleight of hand with a new line of household cleaning and deodorizing products that yields 96 oz of liquid product per each empty 32-oz bottle sold. The Wonder Tablitz™ line of four cleaning solutions relies on the company's patented effervescent-tablet technology and a custom spray bottle that holds tablet refills to provide consumers with an environmentally friendly and effective cleaning system, the company says.

Plastic containers with handles have recently elevated convenience in the sugar aisle, which has been home to paper sacks for decades. In Canada, here is how another marketer improves convenience in sugar packaging.

Tate & Lyle Canada Ltd., Toronto, markets Redpath Half, a sweetener, in widemouth paperboard/foil composite cans from Sonoco. The cans hold either 210 g or 400 g of sugar and are made of 100% recycled paperboard with a high-barrier foil liner that locks out moisture and oxygen and keeps the granular sweetener free of clumps.

A tabbed, peelable membrane serves as both a security and freshness barrier, and adheres to the can rim.

Graphics feature gravure-printed labels.

Plastic containers with handles have recently elevated convenience in the sugar aisle, which has been home to paper sacks for decades. In Canada, here is how another marketer improves convenience in sugar packaging.

Why, in product categories like OTC drugs, does packaging innovation seem to occur only after tragedy strikes? This was explored in our April 2007 issue, and it brought the following response from Bob Nall, Vice President of Packaging Design for Mattel Toys’ Boys Division:

Expo and conference to spotlight innovation, sustainability, co-packing, and global issues.

Shelf Impact! also asked you last month to list, from a marketing and branding perspective, what will be the key “hot topics” for packaging in 2007. Sustainability and packaging materials and processes that protect the environment came up very strong. Here are some of your other answers.

Just when packaging was making major marketing inroads, along comes sustainable packaging. While terms such as shelf impact, "First Moment of Truth" (FMOT), and sustainable packaging are not mutually exclusive, they are not in total alignment either.

Scott Carnie, General Manager of Costco’s East Coast Packaging operations, is the driving force behind a lot of packaging that’s unique to Costco’s shelves. He is open-minded when it comes to getting ideas.

Last month, we also asked readers this question: How will you respond to Wal-Mart's push for reduced packaging, with scorecards to track the results? Many of the responses basically said, “Whatever Wal-Mart wants, we provide.” Following are some of your thoughts.

“Right now, they are not ready for prime time. For example, PVC gets a better recycling score than recycled paperboard.”

“We have our own initiatives to sustain the environment, so we feel we are ahead of Wal-Mart's push.”

“What does Wal-Mart know about packaging technology besides who gives them the cheapest price, which may have no correlation whatsoever with the best package for the application and the environment?”

“We will respond very slowly and wait and see if this takes off.”

If you were to put a face to the packaging at Costco, it may be that of Scott Carnie, General Manager of Costco Wholesale’s East Coast packaging operations in Monroe, NJ.

Thanks in part to his efforts, the company’s packaging is a spectrum of colorful formats and innovation. A key color in Costco’s packaging palette is green, as in environmentally friendly.

Costco produces many of its own packages. Three recent examples:

· Costco launched its Kirkland Signature by Borghese private-label line of cosmetics (see www.packworld.com/go/view-21016).

· In September, Costco introduced a five- product line of Lexmark print cartridges in new packaging. The carded blister pack addresses theft and is eco-friendly. The packaging is Natralock™ material from MeadWestvaco, and it reduces the amount of plastics used while also making the product accessible. The clear plastic thermoform is molded of RPET. Costco thermoforms the recycled PET using tooling it made and heat-seals the products in the folded paperboard card.

· Costco is debuting an interesting take on Microsoft Xbox 360 packaging. It’s a large package that has appeared at Sam’s, but is adapted with a new design (see photo on this screen). Two thermoforms contain the game system and components and are wrapped within an outer frame of corrugated. Polypropylene strapping holds the frame together to provide closure for the corrugated and deter theft.

- By Rick Lingle, Packaging World

Sustainability is fast becoming a hot area of focus for many consumer packaged goods companies. One of every two respondents to a Shelf Impact! survey in June and July 2006 indicated their package-development process now includes sustainability initiatives--typically using biodegradable and recyclable materials, and reducing the amount of packaging used.

If we keep our eyes open, the belief goes, consumer trends will point to opportunities. Given new research on consumer perceptions of “green” marketing, can this commonly held belief possibly be true in packaged goods?

Hewlett Packard’s move to RPETG gives its club store packs of ink-jet cartridges an environmentally friendlier edgs.

Here's a worthwhile exercise: Ask yourself and your package design team, "What If?" The challenge is to use great packaging ideas being introduced elsewhere not as a template for your own projects, but as inspiration for what could be for your packaged products. If you had no budget and no limitations, how would you engage shoppers and create shelf space that really grabs a consumer and makes an impact? Here is a list of "What Ifs" to ponder:

The warehouse club's packaging makeover features paperboard-blister hybrids.

As Wal-Mart ramps up its environmental sustainability initiative, the retailer is telling brand owners that they need to evolve into smaller packaging with reusable/recyclable materials within two years, or risk losing precious shelf space in Wal-Mart stores.

Last month, Shelf Impact! also asked readers this question: “As mass-media audiences become more fragmented, what unexplored opportunities do you see for packaging the brands you work on?” Here are some of your responses.

Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. has found an innarvative way to help consumers protect the environment by using packaging. Its flexible-film bags of Scotts' lawn fertilizer educate consumers on how to properly apply the product by following the label directions.

Based on input from environmental groups and the company's consumer research, Scotts Miracle-Gro has added best- practice application instructions on more than 35 million bags of its Turf Builder@ brand of fertilizer products. The company features the messages on the top of the back panel of its fertilizer bags.

Start small,seek growth and above all, make your effort a team

A completely sustainable package should be sourced responsibly and designed to be effective and safe throughout its life cycle. It should meet market criteria for performance and cost, be made entirely with renewable energy, and be recycled efficiently. Each package is part of a cradle-to-cradle packaging system.

Agencies worldwide are toughening regulations on packaging. TT Club’s TT Talk newsletter cites the following examples:

Since innovative thinking on ways to balance packaging and the environment is always in short supply, I was curious to see if Paper or Plastic: Searching for Solutions to an Overpackaged World by Daniel Imhoff would contribute something new. Though the book did indeed start out as a polemic against packaging, it quickly changed into a more productive—and provocative—course.

Imhoff, Executive Director of Watershed Media, reports on what is realistically possible in terms of the latest technology, from a new generation of zero-effluent mini-mills to the latest thinking in natural capitalism, eco-intelligence, design, and biomimicry, all as applied to packaging. (The biomimicry section alone will spur many ideas for the creative package designer.) Imhoff also covers the newest generation of bioplastics from a variety of suppliers, reviewing pros and cons of each material. Case studies show green packaging done right.

Honest Tea extends its brand equity into citrus quenchers with Honest Ade. The company signals its organic-product heritage with green-banner labels and green caps on its PET bottles, and with the USDA organic seal in the lower right corner of the label.

Custom photography of large fruit slices dominates the two-toned, color background on the labels, created by Flowdesign. In a departure from the label design on bottles of its organic tea, Honest Tea’s citrus-quencher labels emphasize taste appeal rather than artwork inside a centralized letter T.

Link: Flowdesign