Materials & Packaging
The latest developments in materials, feedstocks and processes that are transforming the way many conventional products are made and packaged — and eliminating their negative impacts
After Disaster in Texas, Community and Industry Come Together to Transform Water Infrastructure
Disasters such as the aftermath of the February 2021 ice storm that left millions of Texans without running water lay bare the urgent need for updated utility infrastructure across the US. This would involve repairing and replacing hundreds of thousa... View More
Driscoll’s Working to Scale Circular Plastics Economy, from Field to Clamshell
Driscoll’s leads the produce industry in increasing the circularity of packaging and landfill diversion of agricultural plastics. It’s the first berry company to make public commitments and inject serious funding into innovation — with a goal t... View More
US Plastics Pact Unveils List of 11 ‘Problematic and Unnecessary’ Materials to Be Eliminated by 2025
The US Pact’s brands, retailers and materials manufacturers are seek to develop immediate solutions to the 11 ubiquitous and unrecyclable materials — but the plastics industry is up in arms. ... View More
How to Fuel a Sustainable Future for Packaging
Solving the ongoing packaging conundrum demands a significant shift in how businesses think — moving from a linear to a circular model of operation to improve the amount of packaging that can be reused, recycled and returned to the value chain. ... View More
Enterprise-Wide Engagement Unearths Sweeping Solutions for Reining in SO2 Emissions
The team at Vestolit — part of polymers, materials and infrastructure leader Orbia — worked closely with the corporate sustainability team to find modifications to plant operations that promise significant reductions in the entire enterprise’s ... View More
Lidl, Swiss Scientists Developing Circular Food-Preservation Solution
New cellulosic bio-coating for fresh produce greatly reduces both packaging and food waste by coating the produce with, well, produce. ... View More
PCR & Ocean-Bound Plastic Both Have a Place in Sustainable Beauty
Big Plastic (and Big Oil) have a five-decade lead and massive economies of scale that will take a little longer to match in terms of costs and simplicity. But working with the right partners and openness to shaking up the status quo is paying off for... View More
Improving the Sustainability of Wet Processing: An Investment Pot of Gold
In the textile industry, one area ripe for investment is making wet processing more sustainable. As with most pots of gold, it’s not without its challenges — but data indicate that the returns are well worth the effort. Investors keen to seize th... View More
Water Wins: When Sustainability Becomes Part of the Company Culture
“Sustainability is best played together. It's validating to see what we started and see it grow first across the other teams in our plant, and eventually across Lubrizol.” — Kalli Stull ... View More
Widespread Engagement at Heart of Dow’s Mission to Transform Into a 125-Year-Old Sustainability Leader
Today, Dow considers its sustainability strategy and business strategy to be one and the same; employees understand that the two can no longer be separate. But, as Global Sustainability Director Haley Lowry explains, this didn’t happen overnight. ... View More
Full-Circle: AZEK Disrupts PVC Recycling by Revolutionizing Takeback
AZEK’s FULL-CIRCLE PVC Recycling program helped it collect approximately 400M pounds of recycled product for reuse in 2020 — with the hope that this entire value-chain approach can disrupt the plastic waste paradigm meaningfully, as AZEK continue... View More
This Industry-First Online Marketplace Is Helping Companies ‘SourceGreenPackaging’
The newly launched B2B marketplace helps connect companies with vetted, sustainable, plastic-free packaging options, as well as education on materials and the evolving regulatory landscape. ... View More
Meeting Your Corporate Circularity Commitments: Welcome to the Age of Advanced Recycling
We believe that the solution to stopping plastic waste is understanding that the material is too valuable to be lost in landfills. We can change what is traditionally considered waste and transform it into a valuable, sustainable resource through adv... View More
Composting Consortium Aims to Advance Recovery of Compostable Packaging, Food Scraps
The new Consortium — which includes Closed Loop Partners, PepsiCo, the NextGen Consortium, the US Plastics Pact and other value chain players — aims to pilot industry-wide solutions and map tech and infrastructure investment to advance the circul... View More
Dramatically Decarbonizing Our World: A Blueprint for Global Circularity
With specific investments, partnerships and innovations all directed at the various steps of the plastics system, Dow’s approach provides a blueprint for how industry can build a foundation for a circular economy and the reduction of emissions. ... View More
Brightworks: Looking at the ‘Brightside’ of Material Health & Sustainable Design
Brightworks’ materials scoring methodology distills existing product sustainability standards and attributes into holistic, comparable, numerical scores — making it easier for manufacturers, the design industry and design clients to create and se... View More
Starbucks, McDonald’s Direct $10M More to Accelerate Circularity of Food-Service Packaging
The NextGen Consortium and its partner brands are expanding their work to advance reusable packaging systems, strengthen recycling and composting infrastructure, and scale foodservice packaging innovation. ... View More
Trending: Beauty Brands Building Biodiversity, Better Packaging Solutions
Aveda and L’Occitane Group continue to raise the bar for beauty industry sustainability ambitions with new packaging innovations and a ‘nature-positive’ biodiversity strategy. ... View More
Renewable Materials and Value Chain Circularity: The Case of Tetra Pak
From manufacturing to end of life, Tetra Pak is committed to engaging its entire value chain to drive low-carbon circularity. But as VP of Sustainability Jason Pelz explains, just looking at recyclability and recycled content won’t get you there. ... View More
Marci Zaroff: Regenerative Ag Can Heal the Textile Industry — and the Planet
Entrepreneur and author Marci Zaroff coined the term ‘eco-fashion’ back in the mid-‘90s. Here, we discuss why sustainable fashion has taken so long to have its ‘moment’ and how regenerative ag could heal the planet along with the damaging t... View More
