Think inside the box

She adds that polystyrene foam packaging collected from consumers is also harder for recyclers to handle, as it must be sorted by type. For example, polystyrene foam used as building and construction material is coated with a fire retardant and can't be remolded. Nor is there unlimited room for more recycling by industrial-commercial sources; the demand for recycled polystyrene is determined by those who use it, and not all industries allow recycled packing materials.

Steiner cautions that recycling statistics for expanded polystyrene foam should not be used to tar it as an environmentally “unfriendly” material. “Environmental decisions need to be made on a case-by-case basis,” she says. “Polystyrene does make environmental sense in a lot of ways. It protects against damage.” In the early days of the environmental movement, she says, “some companies moved away from it. Their damage rates increased tremendously. There are environmental impacts in remanufacturing damaged goods.” Not to mention the environmental and financial costs of shipping both the damaged goods and their replacements.

	ONE THING AT A TIME

Clearly, there is no single solution to the problematic environmental impacts of packaging. Armstrong and other experts believe that the answer may lie in thoughtful evaluation of each use.

“We invested a long time ago in design and verification services,” says Armstrong. “We bring our customers' products in and work with them to develop the most efficient package, the most minimal package. One to two million pounds of packaging are eliminated each year through the redesign of the customer's package.” The objective, he says, is to “verify that the package meets its goal with the least amount of material. ”

Richard Bierman, CEO of Wisconsin Converting in Green Bay, WI, a maker of durable paper shipping bags, agrees. “One of the things that is affecting all of us is over-packaging of everything. How many times have I gotten a brochure in a bubble mailer? There are situations, absolutely, where you have to have a box, but if boxes are used, it is usually a marketing decision for appearance.”

One of the more exciting developments in environmentally friendly packaging is the starch-based “peanut” made from organic starch derived from corn and biodegradable polymers. This material biodegrades quickly when dissolved in water. The technology was developed some 15 years ago and has gone through several stages to become more cost-effective and efficient. The first generation of extruders was large, expensive, messy, and labor-intensive, says Denise Shaffer, a member of the sales and marketing team for StarchTech Inc., based in Golden Valley, MI. “There was a big push for environmental products at that time, but the product became too expensive, because it had to be freighted too far for a few manufacturers,” she explains.

StarchTech refined the process half a dozen years ago and eliminated the mess by reformulating the starch recipe into small resin pellets that can be extruded from smaller extruders. The company now sells these extruders to large-volume users and to a network of distributors, dramatically reducing the cost of shipping the peanuts, which take up lots of room but weigh very little. StarchTech prints cards explaining the biodegradability of the peanuts and circulates them to distributors, in the hope that they will pass on the information to all end-users.

Dean Bartels, another member of the StarchTech sales and marketing team, notes that the product is competitive with traditional polystyrene peanuts both in function, and for volume users, in price. “ It performs like polystyrene,” he says. “Peanuts are still one of the fastest, cheapest ways to pack. We want to be sure the customer looks at our product and says, ‘Why not?’”

	STUDY HALL

But even products that seem like a slam-dunk in favor of the environment should be closely scrutinized, says Selke. She stresses that she has not personally studied the starch-based products, but suggests that a true analysis would have to go beyond the disposal issue. “I've never seen an evaluation that attempts to compare the environmental impacts of growing and harvesting the corn,” says Selke, noting that fossil fuels for gasoline, water, and pesticides and fertilizers would be required. Armstrong cautions that if starch-based packing peanuts are mingled with polystyrene packing peanuts in a recycling facility, they will contaminate the whole batch, because they will burn and char rather than melt.

“We're trying to fix a system where a huge infrastructure exists, and the cost of operating outside the system can be great,” says Armstrong.

Selke notes that changes to one part of the packaging system may require changes to another part, adding to the complexity of the issue.

“Ecologically friendly packaging — there isn't any such thing,” she says. “Packaging can be more friendly or less friendly, and that's the best you can hope for. Part of the answer is that you have to keep coming back and looking at how the options change and the impacts change.”

Armstrong says that he advises people not to get mired in specifics, but to take a holistic approach, when talking about environmental concerns. “There's not just one solution. It's important that we look at this whole area and not plastics or paper or starch, but packaging. Too few people think about it as a bucket full of tools. The key is that the solution should fit the situation.”

Karen Berman is a CT-based writer and editor who specializes in business and lifestyle topics. She is a contributing editor to Wine Enthusiast magazine.