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Biodegradable vs. Bioplastics: What’s the Difference?

Plastic that breaks down in weeks rather than centuries sounds fantastic. As concerns over plastic waste mount, the biodegradable plastics industry is growing rapidly coming up with all sorts of alternatives. However, it’s not as simple as simply throwing these new plastics in your backyard and letting nature take its course. By now, no one [...]

 

Plastic that breaks down in weeks rather than centuries sounds fantastic. As concerns over plastic waste mount, the biodegradable plastics industry is growing rapidly coming up with all sorts of alternatives. However, it’s not as simple as simply throwing these new plastics in your backyard and letting nature take its course. By now, no one denies that humanity has a plastic problem on our hands. At FP International, we think about this issue often, keeping innovation and sustainability at the...

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Younger Generations Are Creating Growing Demand for ...

What does luxury mean to Millennials and Gen Z? For one, it’s sustainable. “Luxury” is no longer spelled out by fur coats and leather handbags, instead, we’re seeing a shift into companies that prize sustainability, eco-friendliness, low carbon footprints, and so on. 
It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that Industry demographics are changing: For example, Millennials and Gen Z now account for about 30% of luxury shoppers and will represent 45% of the market by 2025. Luxury brands need to account for the preferences and shopping habits of these younger generations, who are more eco-conscious and more digital - but also less loyal.  So what does luxury mean to Millennials and Gen Z? For one, it’s sustainable. “Luxury” is no...

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How to Incorporate Sustainability Into Your Brand—An...

There’s no question: sustainability is going mainstream. Companies can no longer afford to approach sustainability as a nice option or lofty goal - it’s time to proactively make sustainability core to business strategy, which in turn will drive innovation and engender enthusiasm and loyalty from employees, customers, suppliers, communities and investors. 
First, an example.  You and your team put time, effort, creativity, and innovation into your brand’s packaging. Finding the perfect materials, colors, fonts, text treatments, copy, imagery - it all entailed effort and intention. So when that packaging ends up on the side of the road, or on a beach, or in the middle of a suburban sidewalk, that packaging has turned from a unique and meaningful element of your brand’s image to...litter.    Product packaging continues to make its...

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The Third Component of Sustainability

Sustainability is about more than environmental impact. The concept and practice of sustainability, in fact, is three-pronged. 
Sustainability is about more than environmental impact. The concept and practice of sustainability, in fact, is three-pronged (or three-pillared, or a three-legged stool, and on and on).  Certainly, sustainability is environmental and economic, especially in the packaging value chain. These two pillars must be considered in every aspect of the industry, from raw material extraction and production, through package conversion and creation, to after-use recovery and solid waste scenarios. But there’s an oft-forgotten third dimension, and it’s just as critical...

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Meet the Enzyme That Eats Plastic

A mutant enzyme, created accidentally by scientists, eats up plastic waste, potentially helping to solve the planet’s growing plastic problem. Sounds like the stuff of science fiction, right? 

Yet it’s exactly what happened at a waste dump in Japan. In 2016, after spending five years searching through piles of waste, Japanese researchers discovered a strain of bacteria that naturally evolved to eat away at one of the most common plastics in the world: polyethylene terephthalate, also known as PET or polyester.

A mutant enzyme, created accidentally by scientists, eats up plastic waste, potentially helping to solve the planet’s growing plastic problem. Sounds like the stuff of science fiction, right?  Yet it’s exactly what happened at a waste dump in Japan. In 2016, after spending five years searching through piles of waste, Japanese researchers discovered a strain of bacteria that naturally evolved to eat away at one of the most common plastics in the world: polyethylene terephthalate, also known as PET or...

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The EU’s Plan to Combat Plastic Waste

The European Parliament voted for a complete ban on a range of single-use plastic waste across the union in a bid to stop pollution of the oceans. The proposal also called for a reduction in single-use plastic waste for food and drink containers, including plastic cups.

The European Parliament voted for a complete ban on a range of single-use plastic waste across the union in a bid to stop pollution of the oceans. The proposal also called for a reduction in single-use plastic waste for food and drink containers, including plastic cups. The new law, overwhelmingly backed by the European Parliament asserts 10 single-use plastic products with readily available alternatives will be banned by 2021. The EU states and all residing within them are now obligated...

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Recycling’s Uncertain Future: China’s Ban On Waste I...

China has long been treated as our planet’s repository for plastic waste. The nation has accepted 45% of the world's total plastic recycling since reporting to the United Nations Comtrade Database began in 1992.

China has long been treated as our planet’s repository for plastic waste. The nation has accepted 45% of the world’s total plastic recycling since reporting to the United Nations Comtrade Database began in 1992. But alongside a new push to protect the environment, China no longer wants to be the world’s trash can, or even its recycle bin. China passed their “National Sword” policy banning plastic waste from being imported beginning in January 2018, signaling to the rest of the...

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California Plastic Laws: What You Need To Know

Even before plastic straw bans grew trendy, California was at the forefront of using less plastic and promoting more sustainable living. California pioneered a statewide ban on plastics beginning in 2016, when the state became the first in the U.S. to ban most stores from providing customers with single-use plastic bags, following a successful referendum. [...]

Even before plastic straw bans grew trendy, California was at the forefront of using less plastic and promoting more sustainable living. California pioneered a statewide ban on plastics beginning in 2016, when the state became the first in the U.S. to ban most stores from providing customers with single-use plastic bags, following a successful referendum. But the statewide straw ban is the first-of-its-kind. Though cities across the country—and the world—have adopted plastic straw bans, California is the first U.S. state...

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How to Responsibly Recycle Your Holiday Packaging

The holidays are a time to spend with family and friends, to give and to receive...and to accumulate a lot of extra packaging. Fear not: There are plenty of ways to responsibly recycle after a season of packing on the packaging. 
The holidays are a time to spend with family and friends, to give and to receive...and to accumulate a lot of extra packaging. Fear not: There are plenty of ways to responsibly recycle after a season of packing on the packaging.  The holiday season is here and gone, and while many people were finishing up their to-do lists, wrapping the last of their presents and finalizing their travel plans, members of the waste and recycling industry were preparing their fleets,...

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Making Packaging More Sustainable

In the quest to make your packaging more sustainable and eco-friendly, it’s important to take stock of every aspect of your process. From the materials you use to how you pack, every little thing can make a big difference when turned into a comprehensive solution to minimize your green impact while maximizing your bottom-line [...]

In the quest to make your packaging more sustainable and eco-friendly, it’s important to take stock of every aspect of your process. From the materials you use to how you pack, every little thing can make a big difference when turned into a comprehensive solution to minimize your green impact while maximizing your bottom-line savings. While the following might seem like obvious things to do, too often people find themselves doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a...

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Sustainable Packaging Material: How Air Cushions Fit In

Plastic is probably not the first thing that comes to mind when you think of sustainability. Did you know, though, that when it comes to protecting what matters, air cushion films are one of the best sustainable packaging options available on the current market? Contrary to popular belief, inflatable plastic films are one of the [...]

Plastic is probably not the first thing that comes to mind when you think of sustainability. Did you know, though, that when it comes to protecting what matters, air cushion films are one of the best sustainable packaging options available on the current market? Contrary to popular belief, inflatable plastic films are one of the greenest choices available when it comes to protective packaging – doubly so if you buy a biodegradable variant. It might sound counterintuitive to think of...

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A Look at Plastics’ Toll – And What We Can Do About It

Plastic continues to be one of the most controversial materials to use when making or packaging products. While production costs and misuse the material is a global environmental problem, there are ways to help mitigate damage caused by the commonly mishandled material. The Problem Before we get down to business, let's first take a look [...]

Plastic continues to be one of the most controversial materials to use when making or packaging products. While production costs and misuse the material is a global environmental problem, there are ways to help mitigate damage caused by the commonly mishandled material. The Problem Before we get down to business, let’s first take a look at some statistics derived just from bottled water: Producing bottles to meet America’s demand for bottled water uses more than 1.5 million barrels of oil annually...

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