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
Crowdsourcing a Sustainable Packaging Strategy: Learning from Unilever's Sustainable Living Lab
Companies crowdsourcing their sustainability strategies is a growing trend, and I was lucky enough to experience this first-hand last month, through a Unilever Sustainable Living Lab session, as a guest speaker discussing sustainable packaging design... View More
'Fresher for Longer' Campaign Hopes To Reduce UK Food Waste by Highlighting Importance of Packaging
In a recent report from the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), researchers determined that consumer attitudes and behaviors surrounding food packaging could help reduce household food waste. ... View More
DuPont and EOS Climate Commence CFC Buyback Program
DuPont Refrigerants and EOS Climate have announced a new buyback program to incentivize the return of recovered chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) refrigerants by paying contractors and business owners for the safe disposal of polluting substances. ... View More
GE Introduces New Membrane To Purify Tough-to-Treat Water
GE has developed a new membrane to purify tough-to-treat water such as wastewater from industrial processes that can reduce time between cleanings by as much as 50 percent. ... View More
Refrigerant Revolution: EOS Climate Turning GHGs from Liabilities to Assets
Each week leading up to the Sustainable Brands Innovation Open (SBIO) finals on June 5th, where the runner-up will be decided via live online public vote, we will feature articles introducing our semi-finalists. This week, meet EOS Climate.Joe Madden... View More
Reusable Transport Packaging: Good for the Planet, Operational Efficiency and Brand Protection
Packaging. The term evokes images of wrappers, tubs, pouches and other types of product encasements we see on store shelves every day. Meanwhile, transport packaging such as pallets, cardboard boxes and plastic stretch wrap remain largely hidden from... View More
Bridgestone Americas and Yulex Develop Renewable Alternative to Rubber
A little-known perennial shrub called guayule (pronounced why-u-lee), native to the Southwestern United States, has been tapped as a potential alternative natural source for rubber by Bridgestone Americas and agricultural-based biomaterials company, ... View More
Producing Steel Without GHGs? And That's Not Even the Cool Part
In easily my favorite sustainability story of the week, researchers at MIT have developed a process to manufacture steel without any greenhouse gas (GHG) byproducts. ... View More
New Antimicrobial Fruit and Vegetable Treatment from Ecolab Protects Against Foodborne Illness
Ecolab has introduced a breakthrough product to help reduce the risk of foodborne illness outbreaks related to ineffective produce washing in foodservice operations. ... View More
BASF Licenses Genomatica Process for Creating BDO from Renewable Feedstock
Chemical technology company Genomatica has announced a new partnership with BASF. The chemical giant has licensed Genomatica’s patented new manufacturing process for a renewable form of the organic compound 1,4-butanediol, more commonly known as BD... View More
BASF, DuPont Commit to Increased Product Safety Standards
BASF, DuPont, Honeywell, Dow and other members of the American Chemistry Council (ACC) this week launched a new Responsible Care Product Safety Code to increase chemical safety standards beyond regulatory requirements. ... View More
Dell's Cube, Content, Curb Approach to Packaging
If you’re a long-time Dell customer, you’ve probably noticed that our packaging looks far different than it did just a few years ago. It’s smaller, easier to recycle, and may even contain some materials you’re more likely to associate with yo... View More
What Is the Role of Packaging in a Sustainable Product System?
What is the appropriate role for packaging in a product system? As a product designer, I ask myself this question often. As a design professor, I ask my students what role packaging should play in a particular product system ... now, in the future, w... View More
Waitrose To Cut Packaging in Half By 2016
Waitrose last week pledged to slash its packaging in half by 2016, announcing three major changes to its product ranges that will help achieve this target and altogether save nearly 100 tons of packaging each year. ... View More
Sustainable Packaging: A Call for Better Design
One of the things I love about the Sustainable Brands community is its diverse mix of sustainability experts, designers, innovators and entrepreneurs coupled with brand and marketing specialists. It makes for a heady mix of often differing views on r... View More
What Is Sustainable Packaging?
Welcome to Sustainable Brands' Issue in Focus on sustainable packaging! ... View More
Monadnock Develops Eco-Friendly Label for Craft Beers
Monadnock Paper Mills, which manufactures technical and specialty printing and packaging papers, recently announced the availability of an uncoated product designed specifically for craft beer made from 100 percent FSC-certified, post-consumer waste ... View More
Rennovia Develops Process To Produce 100% Bio-Based Nylon
Rennovia last week announced that it has created a process to make bio-based nylon materials that are nearly 25 percent cheaper to produce and emit half as much greenhouse gas emissions as conventional petroleum-derived substances. ... View More
Nike, NASA, State Department & USAID Seek Innovations To Revolutionize Sustainable Materials
Nike last week partnered with NASA, USAID and the U.S. Department of State to bring together some 150 materials specialists, designers, academics, manufacturers, entrepreneurs and NGOs to catalyze action around one of the world’s biggest challenges... View More
The New Three Rs: Reuse, Recycle, Radiation?
The question of what to do with nuclear waste is as old as our ability to harness nuclear energy. Up until now, all nuclear byproducts have just been placed in storage facilities that will slowly decay over the next few hundred thousand years. Now it... View More
