Slide
1 - Plastic Packaging
I
chose to do my presentation on plastic packaging as it is something I
feel passionate about. I think it is important as a graphic designer
to be aware of the environmental impacts that relate closely to our
industry.
Slide
2 - The History
1862
- The
first manmade plastic was unveiled by Alexander Parkes at the Great
International Exhibition in London and is called Parkesine.
1950
– The plastic
garbage bag (made from polyethylene) was invented by two Canadians.
Slide
3 – The History
1959
- The
first licensed character lunch box was produced and in the 1960s was
adapted and Plastic was used for the handle and then for the entire
box.
2000
- Polylactic
acid (PLA) made from corn was introduced to the packaging market, and
brought back bio-based plastic to packaging.
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4 – The History
2008
- Plastic
bottles achieve a 27% recycling rate, reclaiming 2.4 billion pounds
of plastic.
2010
– Heinz created the
first ketchup packaging innovation in 42 years with a dual function
packaging offering a peel back lid and a tear off tip.
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5 – Types of Plastic
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6 – Sugar Cane Packaging
- Sugar Cane is grown to extract sugar from its stalk. After the juice is extracted, the remaining sugar cane fiber pulp is called Bagasse. Up until recently, Bagasse was treated as a waste product, and was often burned thereby causing air pollution. Producing packaging out of the sugar cane pulp solves the problem of waste. In addition it creates a value added product from a material that was once treated as a waste product.
- It is 100% compostable and it biodegrades in 30-90 days.
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7 – Ecover Case Study
- They are using sugarcane to produce their plastic, which is sustainable, unharmful to the environment and only 15 hectares of land need harvesting for a year's worth of Ecover packaging.
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8 – Procter and Gamble Case Study
- Pantene Pro-V, Gillette Fusion, and Olay Total Effects have already reduced their packaging weight by at least 10%.
- The new Pantene packaging includes sugarcane derived plastic from Brazil, which uses over 70% less fossil fuel than petroleum-based plastic and has 170% lower greenhouse gas emissions.
- The Gillette razor has been adapted with a 75% reduction in plastic and 20% reduction in gross weight.
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9 – Plant Bottle Packaging
- Fully recyclable PET plastic, which is party made from plant material.
- Up to 30% of the PlantBottle packaging material comes from plants unlike traditional plastic bottles made from non-renewable fossil fuels.
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10 – Coca Cola Case Study
- Coca Cola is an example of a brand using plant based packaging.
- The plant based part of the bottle is made using sustainably sourced sugarcane from Brazil.
- They are working hard to find a wider variety of plant sources and hope to use plant waste in the future such as fruit peel, bark and stalks.
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11 – Coca Cola Case Study
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12 – Health Concerns
- Chemicals added to plastics are absorbed by human bodies. Some of these compounds have been found to alter hormones or have other potential human health effects.
- Plastic buried deep in landfills can leach harmful chemicals that spread into groundwater.
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13 – The Future
Within
the plastics sector, the emergence of products with strong
environmental credentials is forecast to continue, in order to
overcome our concerns.
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14 – End Quote
When
designing packaging it’s important to consider its full life cycle.
Can it be reused? How easy is it to recycle? It’s a designer’s
responsibility to, at the least, inform a client of the opportunities
to use water based inks and recycled or sustainable substrates.