Technology
Sustainability by Design
Prevents Packaging Waste
Cradle-to-cradle cycles minimize waste and give new life to used materials.
By Carli Derifield
Director, Global Marketing
EnviroCooler
The environmental impacts of
product packaging and its waste
are an issue of growing importance and concern worldwide. All
organizations use various quantities of
materials and other resources to package
their products to survive distribution and
other harmful elements. Biopharma-ceutical organizations transporting
billions of dollars worth of temperature-sensitive products globally on an annual basis are
no exception.
According to EPA, yearly
municipal solid
waste in the United
States has increased
from 88 million tons
in 1960 to 229 million tons in 2001.
Containers and
packaging made up
almost one-third of
those 229 million tons.
Industry in the United
States reportedly creates
7. 6 million tons of nonhazardous waste each year.
Industrial packaging contributes
significantly to that figure.
Global regulations to reduce packaging waste have grown. More than 25
countries have environmental packaging
design requirements, and 35 have package reporting and advanced disposal fees.
The European Union Packaging Directive (EUPD) has established recovery
and recycling rates for waste packaging,
PHARMA-BIO TRANSPORT | February 2008
required reductions in the heavy metal
content of packaging, and dictated disposal of packaging waste. Following the
Polyurethane packing components receive new
life through EnviroCooler’s innovative program.
Image courtesy EnviroCooler.
enactment of the EUPD, producer
responsibility for packaging has gained
prominence globally as a key strategy for
addressing packaging waste.
DEFINING GREEN
Sustainable packaging has become a
goalpost of being “green” in the 21st
entury. The Sustainable Packaging
Coalition has outlined criteria for
general sustainability objectives.
They’ve listed objectives that can
mesh with business considerations
related to packaging’s life cycle. These
objectives cover sourcing, manufacturing, and transporting to maximize the use of renewable or
recycled material. (See
sidebar on page 19 for a
full list.)
At best, sustainable
packaging leaves no
footprint—no trace
of material creation
and processing, transport, and material
recycling. To stay green
beyond the present, the
truly environmentally
conscious must focus on
sustainable design.
SUSTAINABLE DESIGN:
CRADLE-TO-CRADLE
Organizations embrace sustainable
design practices for being both environmentally sound and good business. Rather than being legislated
into action, leader businesses actively
examine their total impact and
opportunity as a trigger for increased
