Sustainability of PlasticPackaging Applications

Wal-mart Sustainable Packaging ExpoApril 2008

Objectives

• The role of plastics in packaging• Package types and sustainability:

– Rigid packaging – Bottles – Foams – Flexible packaging

• Conclusions

Plastic Packaging

• Plastic packaging comes in several types:– Rigid packaging

• Containers / pallets / thermoformed items• Bottles

– Foam– Flexible Packaging

• Sheet or Film• Pouches, bags

Role of Plastics in Packaging

• Plastic protects the product:– Gas barrier (oxygen, CO2)– Controlling permeation: moisture & other vapors (MVTR)– Flavor or aroma barrier– Physical barrier to chemicals, impact & contamination – Cushioning – Containing or supporting the product– As a medium for additives to stabilize, preserve, etc.– Extending product shelf-life…and…– Providing sensory appeal to help sell the product!

Plastics and Wal-Marts 7R’s

• How do plastics play a role in sustainability?– Remove – provide new functionality for redesign– Reduce – light-weighting– Reuse – provide durability, appearance, design– Recycle/ content – recyclability, recycled content– Renewable – use alternative source materials or

production energy– Revenue - efficiencies of production & use– Read – plastics industry promotes & supports

sustainability science & education

Types of Plastic Packaging

• The role of plastics in packaging• Package Types and Sustainability:

– Rigid packaging – Bottles– Foams – Flexible packaging

• Conclusions

Rigid Plastic PackagingFrom Cradle to End of Life

RawMaterial

•Natural Gas

•Petroleum

•Renewable Resources

Polymer Manufacture•PET•HDPE/LDPE•PP•GPPS/HIPS•EVOH•PVC•PLA

Fabrication

•Blow Molding•Extrusion•Injection

Molding•Thermoforming

Forms•Bottles•Trays•Containers•Pallets•Cups•Caps/lids•Closures•Blister packs

End of Life•Reuse•Recycle•Compost•Energy Recovery

•Incinerate•Landfill

LCI Results: Reusable Plastic Containers vs. Display Ready Corrugated Containers

• Across 10 produce applications Reusable Plastic Containers:– Require 39% less total energy than display ready corrugated– Produce 95% less total solid waste than display ready corrugated– Generate 29% less total greenhouse gas emissions than display

ready corrugated• Source - Life Cycle Inventory of Reusable Plastic Containers

and Display-Ready Corrugated Containers Used for Fresh Produce Applications by Franklin Associates, Nov. 2004

Sustainability and packaging–A life cycle view

Eco-efficiency Analysis is a helpful instrument

• Product

• Choice of packaging-material, size, design, …

• Product delivery

• Product use

• Package End-of-life

Energy Use

Material Use

Emissions (e.g. GHG)

Costs

…

NGO-industry partnerships

Jointly created byindustry-consultant partnership 1996

Sustainability tool:Eco-efficiency analysis1

Example: Yogurt packaging

0.5

1.0

1.50.51.01.5

Costs (normalized)

Environmental effect (normalized)

Higheco-efficiency

Higheco-efficiency

Low eco-efficiencyLow eco-efficiency

Compositcartons

Plastics

Re-usable glass

Validated Validated EcoefficiencyEcoefficiency

AnalysisAnalysisMethodMethod

• Third-party certified• Used by industry, academia,

government & NGOs• Holistic look at life-cycle

environmental and economic impacts

• Environmental impacts include:– Emissions (air, water, solid)– Toxicity Potential– Risk Potential– Raw Material Use– Energy Use– Land Use

• In this case, environmental differences were small – but plastics provided significant cost advantage 1) Source: BASF, www.basf.com

Recycling of Rigid Containers is Growing

• ACC, Association of Post Consumer Plastics Recyclers (APR), EPA and Brand Owners partnering to increase recycling

• Currently at least 1/3rd of largest communities recycle rigid containers

BottlesFrom Cradle to End of Life

RawMaterial

•Natural Gas

•Petroleum

•Renewable Resources

Polymer Manufacture•PET•HDPE/LDPE•PP•GPPS/HIPS•EVOH•PVC•PLA

Fabrication•Blow molding:

InjectionExtrusionStretchCoinjectionCoextrusion

Packaging Applications•Beverage•Food•Non-food•Personal Care•Home Care

End of Life•Reuse•Recycle•Compost•Energy Recovery

•Incinerate•Landfill

Bottles• Plastic protects the product via:

– Gas barrier (oxygen, carbon dioxide)– Can contain additives (e.g. light stabilizers,

preservatives) to protect contents– Impact resistance

• May co-extrude more than one plastic, to– Include a layer of recycled material– Improve barrier properties– Create appearance or tactile effects (soft-touch)– Reduce use of expensive colorants– Provide “tie layers” to adhere different plastics

Helping to achieve 5% packaging reduction goal

PEANUT BUTTER: Glass to plastic (18 oz.)

Weight of the jar: 10.2 oz. 1.7 oz.

% of total weightthat’s product: 64% 91%

Shipping andenergy comparison:

Total GreenhouseEnergy Gases

(MM Btu) (lb) (cu ft)(lb of CO2

equivalents)Half-gallon milk container systems

PLA Bottle (1) 66.0 1,061 80.7 5,450

Gable Top Carton (1) 42.5 1,248 46.5 4,341

Glass Bottle (2) 48.5 6,718 71.0 8,509

HDPE Bottle (3) 39.8 763 58.0 3,260

(1) End-of-life for this system is modeled with 80% going to a landfill and 20% combusted with energy recovery.(2) End-of-life for this system is modeled with 15% recovered for recycling, 68% going to a landfill, and 17% combusted with energy recovery. However, the energy recovery is only available for the cap/seal.(3) End-of-life for this system is modeled with 29% recovered for recycling, 57% going to a landfill, and 14% combusted with energy recovery.

Source: Franklin Associates, a Division of ERG calculations using original data from LCI/LCA by NatureWorks, LLC and PlasticsEurope.

TOTAL ENERGY, POSTCONSUMER SOLID WASTE, AND GREENHOUSE GASES FOR THE USE OF 10,000 HALF-GALLON MILK CONTAINERS

Postconsumer Solid Waste

2.2 Billion Pounds of Bottles Recycled in 2006

2006 Post-Consumer Plastic Bottles Recycled (Millions of Pounds per Year)

Calendar Year 2006

Plastic Bottle TypePlastic

Recycled Resin Sales

Recycling Rate

HDPE Natural 454.4 1643 27.7%

HDPE Pigmented 473.7 1867 25.4%

Total HDPE Bottles 928.1 3510 26.4%

PVC 0.8 111 0.7%

PET 1,272 5,424 23.5%

TOTAL Bottles 2,219.6 9,321 23.8%

LDPE 0.3 69 0.4%

PP 18.4 207 8.9%

• Curbside recycling infrastructure for bottles is strong

• PET and HDPE account for 98 percent of bottles

• ACC Advocates “All Bottles” not just PET and HDPE

• Export market is strong for other resins

• Have reduced weights since introduction

Plastic Foam PackagingFrom Cradle to End of Life

RawMaterial

•Natural Gas

•Petroleum

•Renewable Resources

Polymer Manufacture•Polystyrene•Polyethylene•Polypropylene•Urethane foams•PLA

Fabrication

•Molding•Extrusion

Forms /Applications•Foam•Foam-in-place•Food service

End of Life•Reuse•Recycle•Compost•Energy Recovery

•Incinerate•Landfill

Foams

• Protect the product by cushioning and containing

• Light weight, good insulating capacity, absorb shock and protect the product

• Some foams are used for food service applications (EPS, PLA)

• University of California at San Diego compared environmental effects of using:– Paper, Expanded polystyrene (EPS) cups, recyclable PET

(polyethylene terephthalate), compostable PLA (polylactic acid)• Results:

– EPS has a smaller impact on the environment during its production and use.

– PET, paperboard and PLA cups too expensive for UCSD.

– PLA is compostable (& corn derived), but no approved industrial composting facilities exist near UCSD. Because the product would be landfilled, compostability of product had no benefits to UCSD.

– EPS vs. paperboard cups – EPS uses less raw materials, less energy/power, less water, less steam and generates less waste than paper

References: Mike Levy, EPSMA/ACC; 2006 UCSD (University of California at San Diego) Environmental Science Graduate Report

Paper or Polystyrene Cups

Flexible Plastic PackagingFrom Cradle to End of Life

RawMaterial

•Natural Gas

•Petroleum

•Renewable Resources

Polymer Manufacture•PET•HDPE/LDPE•PP•PVC•EVOH•Nylon•PLA

Fabrication

•Extrusion•Casting•Roll-stack•Calendering•Blown-film•FFS (form-fill-seal)

Forms•Film•Stretch Wrap•Shrink Wrap•Pouch•Retort Pouch•Bulk/heavy bag•Bag-in-box

End of Life•Reuse•Recycle•Compost•Energy Recovery

•Incinerate•Landfill

Flexible Packaging

• Protects the product by:– Gas (oxygen, carbon dioxide) or moisture barrier – Flavor or aroma barrier– Controlling moisture or vapor permeation (MVTR)– Contains/protects contents

• Light-weight, efficient usage of materials and space, economical

• Often multi-layered to provide needed properties

Industrial Stretch Film •Made from Linear Low Density Polyethylene• Improvements in resin design and polymer processing have allowed less material to be used.

– Critical property requirements– Extensibility– Puncture resistance

Year Standard Stretch Film*

High Performance

Stretch Film*

1998 80 602001 70 512004 65 512007 57 45

Reduction 29% 25%* Units are gauge. 80 gauge = 20 micron

Industrial Stretch Film• With a global market size of about

3 billion pounds, this downgauging saves 1 billion pounds per year of PE from being used to make stretch film.

• 1 billion pounds = 36.6 trillion BTUs• Equivalent to 293 million gallons

of gasoline• Enough to heat and cool 643,000

homes for a year

While this reduction and savings have taken place, recycling has grown.

Source: US EPA publication: Waste Management & Energy Savings: Benefits by the Numbers; 9/05

25

Granola: Cereal Box vs. Stand-Up Pouch1

Impact per 100 oz Cereal

Package Type Contents Landfill

Discards* (g)

Process GHG**

(kg CO2

Eq)

Total Energy**

(MJ)

Paperboard and HDPE Liner

380.0 .861

Stand-Up Pouch 117.5 .265

11 oz

12 oz

12.1

9.25 EnergyGHG

Landfill Discards 68%

23%69%

Reduction vs Box

Calculations based on:• System boundary: Raw Material Cradle-to-Gate,

plus recycle• *Discards = package mass – recycle stream• Cereal box assumptions

― 100% recycled content― 30% recovered to recycle stream †

• **Lifecycle inventory data sources: ― Paper: Environmental Defense-

www.papercalculator.org― EVA: The Dow Chemical Company― Other Plastics: Boustead Model V5

• †From The ULS Report, February 2007

1) Source: Dow

26

Salsa: Glass Bottle vs Squeeze Bottle vs Pouch1

Impact per 100 oz Salsa

Package Type Contents Landfill Discards

* (g)

Process GHG**

(kg CO2

Eq)

Total Energy**

(MJ)

Squeeze Bottle 20 oz 248.0 0.521 18.5Glass Bottle 1489.5 1.95

Pouch 62.5 0.257

30.916 oz

16 oz 6.02

Reduction vs Glass

PouchSqueeze Bottle

40%

73%

83%

Energy

GHG

Landfill Discards 96%

81%

87%

Calculations based on:• System boundary: Raw Material Cradle-to-Gate,

plus recycle• *Discards = package mass – recycle stream• Glass assumption

― 20% recovered to recycle stream †• Metal assumptions

― 50% recycled content― 50% recovered to recycle stream †

• **Lifecycle inventory sources― Plastics and Glass: Boustead Model V5― Metal: BUWAL 1998, Life Cycle Inventories of Packaging, Volume 1

• †From The ULS Report, February 2007

1) Source: Dow

Sausage packaging eco-efficiency example:Environmental & economic aspects improve using flexible packaging

Customer benefit:Packaging and consumption of 1.000 kg sausage

-1.0

1.0

3.0-1.01.03.0

Costs (normalized)

Environmental impact (normalized)

Higheco-efficiency

Higheco-efficiency

Low eco-efficiencyLow eco-efficiency

Can

MAP*Butcher

Glassjar

* *Modified atmosphere packaging using multi-layer composite fim

1) Source: BASF, www.basf.com

Flexible packaging benefits: Improved transport and distribution of food

Smaller amount of spoiled food

Lower energy consumptions/lower CO2 emissions

Sausage packaging –Don’t forget the primary package function is to protect the contents!

Energy use for MAP packaged sausage

Primary packaging material Secondary packaging material

Sausage production

Package productionTransportation

approx. 90%

Sustainability of Plastic Packaging Applications

• The role of plastics in packaging• Package Types:

– Rigid packaging – Bottles– Foams – Flexible packaging

• Conclusions

30

There are many ways to improve sustainability• Redesign the package:

– Lightweight a rigid package– Change a rigid package to a flexible package– Downgauge a flexible package for source reduction– Redesign the package for different use or end-of-life options

• Redesign a material: – Improved processability and manufacturing efficiency – faster

speeds & less waste– Consider alternate materials with different aspects/functionality

• Redesign processes: – Increase efficiency of packaging equipment– Reduce energy consumption and waste generation of

manufacture– Improve efficiencies of transport & package use

Life Cycle Thinking is Important• Life cycle thinking is an objective, scientific approach and

provides a comprehensive view of a product from cradle to grave/cradle.

• All environmental impacts should be considered – rather than focusing on only one

• Package application and function are critical–Which material to use is not the only consideration–Think about how much is needed for package performance!

• A balanced look at end-of-life options is also necessary.–In addition to a material being recycled, consider the

impacts of recycling (transport fuel, energy, etc)–The benefits of compostable materials are NOT realized

unless they are actually composted• Make sure you’re not creating negative impacts by

redesign!

Input for this presentation was provided by:

Charlene Wall, BASF Corporation Jeff Wooster, Dow Chemical CompanyAmanda Holder, Berry PlasticsDennis Sabourin, National Association for PET Container ResourcesFrank Onorato, Sabert CorporationGerhard Guenther, Total Petrochemicals, USAMark Spencer, Pactiv Corporation

Thanks for your attention!!!

Questions?