Sustainability: Page 2

  • Hands hold an Aerflo reusable carbon capsule
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    Permission granted by Aerflo
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    Sparkling water craze meets reuse with Aerflo’s launch

    Investor Closed Loop Partners hailed the convenience of the startup’s refillable bottle system. Aerflo estimates its reusable capsules, which carbonate water on the go, could each displace more than 330 beverage cans.

    By • Sept. 12, 2024
  • a hand sticks a fork in a salad in a disposable cup
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    Giuseppe Lombardo via Getty Images
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    EPA recommends BPI, GreenScreen, other ecolabels in food service ware procurement

    It’s the first time in nearly 10 years the agency is evaluating new recommendations of standards for sustainable federal purchasing. EPA said it would accept comments on the proposed updates for 30 days.

    By • Sept. 11, 2024
  • Close-up view of legacy Keurig Green Mountain single-serve K-Cup coffee pods.
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    Joe Raedle via Getty Images
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    Keurig Dr Pepper to pay $1.5M to settle charges about K-Cup recyclability

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission says the beverage company omitted from filed documents some important information about testing the curbside recyclability of its K-Cup coffee pods. 

    By • Sept. 10, 2024
  • Box with paper internal packaging covering products
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    Courtesy of Amazon
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    As Amazon and others nix air pillows, packaging manufacturers diversify to cushion the blow

    Packaging companies are having to adapt to keep up as e-commerce expands and protective packaging trends shift. Retailers are trying new void fill materials, rightsizing packages and more.

    By Shefali Kapadia • Sept. 10, 2024
  • Box packaging
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    Permission granted by Cruz Foam / Emilia Anderson
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    Sponsored by Cruz Foam

    How to deliver high protective performance with sustainable block and brace packaging

    As consumer demand for sustainability rises and regulations tighten, companies are abandoning plastic foams and switching to more sustainable alternatives.

    Sept. 9, 2024
  • Two sizes of McDonald's McFlurry ice cream treat in cups with four flaps at the top.
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    Courtesy of McDonald's
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    Packaging innovations: McDonald’s four-flap McFlurry, Capri-Sun bottle debate

    Plus, New England Coffee ditches its plastic pod base for commercially compostable materials.

    By • Sept. 6, 2024
  • Grace Potter stands holding a metal cup with a crowd of people at a music event
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    Retrieved from Plastic Pollution Coalition on August 15, 2024
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    Music venues become a proving ground for reusable packaging

    Groups like Upstream and musicians such as Grace Potter are pushing to replace single-use cups with reusable options. This weekend’s Imagine Zero Music Festival is the latest example of a reuse-focused event.

    By • Sept. 6, 2024
  • Wide shot of a building exterior with the "Myplas" logo.
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    Permission granted by Myplas
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    Myplas film recycling plant in Minnesota to reopen under new ownership

    GDB Circular plans to upgrade the facility and improve operations at the film recycling plant, which opened in December but idled soon after due to financial issues.

    By Megan Quinn • Sept. 4, 2024
  • Two hands place two purple plastic reusable cups toward a receptacle that says "Thanks for dropping your reusable cup here."
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    Permission granted by Kellyann Petry/Berry Global
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    Berry seeks insights on reusable cups at scale in California rollout

    Berry provided HDPE cups that are ultimately recyclable for a NextGen Consortium initiative that began this month in the city of Petaluma. The company expects legislation will drive more reuse activity in the coming years.

    By • Aug. 30, 2024
  • Front entrance to Save Mart supermarket
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    Courtesy of The Save Mart Companies
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    Reverse vending machines win CalRecycle funding for beverage container redemption

    As California seeks to bolster its bottle bill, a $70 million round of grant funding is supporting more than 250 new recycling sites across 30 counties. This also includes mobile recycling and bag drop programs.

    By • Aug. 28, 2024
  • A variety of fiber-based packaging for food, including cups, sleeves and egg cartons.
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    yulka3ice via Getty Images
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    Chang Robotics offers PFAS alternative for food-contact fiber packaging

    “We're really trying to solve a major societal environmental problem,” said Timothy Wei, chief scientist for the startup that developed a graphene oxide-based barrier material.

    By • Aug. 26, 2024
  • Amcor logo
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    Permission granted by Amcor
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    Amcor releases decarbonization road map

    Redesigning packaging to weigh less, use fewer materials and incorporate lower-carbon materials is part of the company’s efforts to reach SBTi-validated 2033 emissions reduction targets.

    By • Aug. 23, 2024
  • Close-up of a wrap label on a Diet Coke beverage bottle that says "I'm a 100% Recycled Bottle"
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    Maria Rachal/Packaging Dive
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    Coca-Cola ‘on track’ for packaging recyclability goal, ‘behind plan’ on recycled content target

    In an environmental update, the beverage giant reported that progress on reusable packaging formats and recyclability was stagnant in 2023 while its rate of recycled PET use ticked up.

    By • Aug. 22, 2024
  • People wearing gloves pick up plastic pollution from a beach, such as PET bottles.
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    Neustockimages via Getty Images
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    Plastics Pact Network details its 6-year impact on tackling plastic pollution

    Future work will focus on environmental justice, informing policy and securing more funding to scale impact.

    By • Aug. 22, 2024
  • An assortment of packaging for Google's electronic devices.
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    Courtesy of Google
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    Google achieves plastic-free packaging ahead of 2025 with help of new paper

    Google says it was important to work with partners such as Veritiv to design the new paper material and other packaging to give consumers visual cues that encourage recycling.

    By • Aug. 21, 2024
  • four blue recycling carts stand next to each other
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    Thomas Demarczyk via Getty Images
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    5 stats on plastics recycling and ‘circularity’ investments

    In new reports this summer, various groups shared updated data on where plastics transformation investments are being allocated, how recycling and recycled content use are evolving, and more.

    By • Aug. 21, 2024
  • A scene inside a coffee shop with paper cups and food on a counter and a barista using a marker to write on a cup.
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    Retrieved from Graphic Packaging International on August 19, 2024
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    Graphic Packaging’s new technology set to reduce paperboard coatings

    The technology slated to debut in the plant GPI is building in Waco, Texas, allows the use of paper cups and production scrap as paperboard feedstocks. The company has also introduced new sustainability targets and retired others.

    By • Aug. 20, 2024
  • Close-up across of 5 rPET Coca-Cola bottles: Sprite, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, Coca-Cola Original, Diet Coke, Fanta
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    Courtesy of Coca-Cola
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    28% of PET bottles are being recycled, The Recycling Partnership reports

    The PET Recycling Coalition reports it’s been able to help capture more PET bottles and non-bottle PET packaging. There’s still more demand for clear recycled PET, while interest in pigmented or opaque rPET is low.

    By • Aug. 20, 2024
  • A close-up view of Twinings Thé Latté powdered beverage in a fiber-based, cylindrical container.
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    Courtesy of Sonoco
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    Packaging innovations: Twinings gets canned, Black Cow’s udderly different vodka packaging

    Plus, e.l.f. Cosmetics makes changes to boost product accessibility and Sensei Farms ditches its plastic clamshells.

    By • Aug. 12, 2024
  • A person in a Living Ink t-shirt, wearing safety glasses and gloves, works with ink at an industrial station.
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    Permission granted by Living Ink Technologies
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    Alternative inks and coatings aim to increase recyclability and aid sustainability goals

    Recent state legislation seeking to limit carbon black hasn’t progressed yet, but companies are already seeing demand for different approaches using algae, magnetic coatings and more.

    By Hollie Stephens • Aug. 12, 2024
  • A store employee wearing a red Target vest puts health and beauty products on a store shelf.
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    Courtesy of Target
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    Target still struggles to lower virgin plastic use by 2025 deadline

    While the retailer made some progress toward its goal to reduce virgin plastic use in its own-brand packaging 20% by 2025, it’s still using more — not less — than the 2020 baseline.

    By • Aug. 6, 2024
  • Three sizes of white fiber-based Starbucks cups with the company's green logo printed on them.
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    Permission granted by Starbucks
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    Starbucks, Huhtamaki partner on compostable cold cup lids

    The double-walled paperboard cups have a bioplastic liner, and the lids are made from molded fiber. Two states with local mandates are targets of the initial rollout.

    By • Updated Aug. 9, 2024
  • Paris town hall draped with the city's 2024 Olympic logo and a plaza with people.
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    Pascal Le Segretain via Getty Images
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    Coca-Cola takes some heat for plastic packaging at Olympics: reports

    The Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games are spotlighting challenges and opportunities with reusable containers for food and beverage service.

    By • July 30, 2024
  • An Estée Lauder storefront with displays featuring cosmetics in Hong Kong
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    "HK TKO zh:將軍澳 Tseung Kwan O PopCorn mall shop in January 2022" by CAHOGNSUIE 202 KADPA is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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    Q&A

    Aesthetics vs. environment: How Estée Lauder balances luxury and sustainability

    Efforts include sourcing postconsumer resin and leveraging chemical recycling. Making sustainability leaps more apparent to consumers is also a concern at the cosmetics and skincare giant.

    By • July 29, 2024
  • Hands hold a Snickers candy bar, Mars bar and Milky Way bar in paper-based packaging
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    Courtesy of Mars Wrigley Australia
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    Mars doubts it can achieve 2025 sustainable packaging targets

    Almost half of Mars’ packaging portfolio is being redesigned or eliminated to align with current or future recycling infrastructure. But infrastructure advancement is taking longer than expected, per its latest sustainability report.

    By • July 29, 2024