Think inside the box

	Eco-friendly Packagers

Geëmi Ltd. This Morrisville, NC-based firm makes wrapping and cushioning products from a honeycomb-cut kraft paper and interleaf tissue. The precut paper ships in flat rolls. At the packing station, two rolls are loaded onto a tabletop expander that stretches them and “interleaves” the tissue between them to create 3-D packing material. The system saves space in shipping and warehousing. Geëmi loans the expanders to its clients. For smaller users, pre-expanded rolls require simpler manual dispensers. The product also comes in a pad form that combines the Geëmi paper with plain kraft paper for heavier items. Geëmi paper is made of recycled pre-consumer paper and is recyclable. It can be used for fragile breakables. It is a wrap and void fill in one, and because it interlocks, no tape is needed. The user company's logo can be imprinted on the interleaf. Says Michael A. Suthard, vice president of sales and marketing, “We offer a system that is environmentally sound, offers storage and shipping savings, can be used for branding and marketing, requires smaller boxes, and results in increased packer throughput.”
www.geami.com

National Packaging Corporation This South Kearney, NJ-based company produces the MSP Coex Mailbag, a polyethylene mailer that comes in cushioned or non-cushioned and opaque or translucent models, all with a self-sealing feature made of silicone tape. (The opaque ones come in a variety of colors.) Light in weight, the mailers can be used for fulfillment or returns for nonbreakable products. They are strong, water-resistant, and recyclable once the silicone tape is removed. Says company president Martin Schlesinger, “At National, we are proud to serve our customers and the environment by producing poly-based products, which limit the unnecessary harvesting of trees, the excessive energy required in paper production and delivery, and subsequently the creation of paper waste.”
E-mail: mspcoex@nationalpack.com

Polyair Based in Toronto, Canada, this firm is one of the largest manufacturers of protective packaging materials. Its products include the strong but lightweight E-com mailer (a polyethylene film with a bubble liner); the Ecolite mailer (bubble laminated to kraft paper); Airspace polyethylene air pillows and bubble and foam roll stock and pouches. All of these materials are recyclable.“ Most companies are packaging inefficiently,” says Mitchell Solway, Polyair's director of marketing. “We often find that companies are using a lot of excess material in wrapping and taping when they could be using a pouch instead. We spend a lot of time working with our customers to help them pack more efficiently, not only to save time and materials but provide them with even better protective packaging performance.”
www.polyair.com

Sealed Air Corporation: The Saddle Brook, NJ-based firm produces a wide variety of packaging products. The Jiffy Padded Mailer is made of heavy kraft paper filled with shredded recycled newsprint. It is recyclable. Jiffylite Mailers are made of kraft paper lined with the company's patented lightweight polyethylene plastic Bubble Wrap. They are constructed of 100% recycled paper, 10% post-consumer plastic, and 10% recycled plastic. Bubble Wrap, which is recyclable, is sold in rolls. The company also markets Fill-Air RF Inflatable Packaging Systems, polyethylene bags used for void fill, which are shipped flat and inflated to the size needed. Kushion Kraft® and Custom WrapTM cellulose wadding, made of recycled fibers, are used for wrapping a variety of items. The company maintains return programs for those who want to recycle. Says Bill Armstrong, technical development manager, “We bring customers' products in and work with them to develop the most efficient packaging.”
www.sealedair.com

StarchTech Inc. A starch-based resin is the raw material for this Golden Valley, MI-based firm's packing peanuts, which are biodegradable in water and compostable. Large-volume users buy the resins and special extruders and fabricate the peanuts on-site as needed, spending less on shipping than they would if they had to ship pre-extruded (higher-volume) peanuts. Distributors also buy resin pellets and extruders and provide product to small users. Denise Shaffer, a member of StarchTech's sales and marketing team, says that manufacturers and shippers “have an alternative that is reasonable. They don't have to go with polystyrene or petroleum-based products. Peanuts are still the fastest, cheapest way to pack, and they have an environmental option.”
www.starchtech.com

Storopack Inc. The Cincinnati, OH-based company produces a variety of packaging products, including PAPERplus cushioning, a patented wrapping system that combines two sheets of kraft paper to form a lightweight, protective “mattress” for products during shipment. The strength of the mattress is determined by the weight of the kraft paper, and strengths and sizes can be customized for the user. Airplus is a system of air-filled tubular films made of polyethylene. It is recyclable and reusable. The company also produces loose fill, popularly known as peanuts. These are made of reusable polystyrene and come in several varieties, including Pelaspan-Pac® Recycled. RENATURE is a starch-based loose fill (peanut) material that dissolves in water. The company also converts and recycles expanded polystyrene. “Storopack is dedicated to using our diverse line of ecologically friendly protective packaging products to provide our customers with fit-for-purpose packaging,” says Jim Foley, director of marketing.
www.storopackinc.com

Wisconsin Converting Inc. The Green Bay, WI-based firm's primary mission is to convert roll stock to shipping bags and merchandise bags. Among its products are the Eco-Shipper, a white, unpadded shipping bag, and the Illuminations line of colored unpadded shipping bags. Both are made of 50% recycled content, and both are recyclable. The bags are made of liner board, the material used for the top sheet of corrugated cardboard, and come in 15 sizes, including six that are gusseted and can be imprinted with the customer's logo. They are water-resistant and suitable for fulfillment operations that handle soft durable goods such as apparel. “These are an alternative to corrugated boxes,” says CEO Richard Bierman. “There's no void to fill, so customers use less packaging overall.”
www.wisconsinconverting.com

	The Right Stuff

CORRUGATED FIBERBOARD: The great majority of products are shipped in what consumers call corrugated cardboard, a cost-effective and reliable material. It is recyclable, and recycling programs for it are in place. In waste-to-energy incineration it is considered a clean fuel. It takes up room in landfill, but, says MSU's Selke, “I don't see that it's particularly more of a problem than any other shipping material.” It is biodegradable, although the rate of degradation is not fast enough to reclaim landfill space.

POLYETHYLENE FILM: Known to consumers as transparent plastic, it is derived from hydrocarbon feed stocks, including oil and natural gas. Among the many forms of polyethylene, transparent films are often used in packaging as bubble wrapping, shrink/stretch wrapping, and air bag void fillers. The material can be reused; the resins are melted and remolded or reformed to make a variety of products. “It's quite recyclable — if the systems are in place to make it happen,” says Selke. Mitchell Solway, director of marketing at Toronto-based Polyair, notes that recycled polyethylene can be a bit more brittle than the newly fabricated plastic and therefore might not be appropriate for use in shipping products, although highly suitable for other uses. In waste-to-energy incineration polyethylene is considered a clean fuel, and it has a high energy content, which promotes efficient combustion. It has a low-volume presence in landfill and is inert (meaning that it has no toxic leachate to pollute ground water).

PADDED PAPER MAILING BAGS: These are made of recycled paper. They can be recycled by breaking down the fibers in a slurry and then cleaning and refabricating them, but, says Selke, “I don't know of any place that collects them.” In waste-to-energy incineration, they are a good fuel but not as high in energy content as plastic. The bags take up room in landfill, where they are biodegradable.

KRAFT PAPER MAILERS AND WRAPPERS: They can be recycled by the same process as other papers, can be incinerated in waste-to-energy operations, and are biodegradable in landfill.

POLYSTYRENE FOAM: The ubiquitous white foam is recyclable (it is crushed and remolded). The loose fill (“peanuts”) segment of the industry sponsors a collection and reuse program with participating mail shops. In waste-to-energy incineration, it is considered a clean fuel and has a high energy content. In the landfill, it packs down and becomes smaller in volume than when it was used for packing. “There's a popular misconception that foams take up all kinds of landfill space, and it's just not true,” says Selke.

CELLULOSE WADDING: This soft, fibrous wrapping material is used for furniture and other items. It is made of recycled fibers that are not considered clean for municipal solid waste recycling because of their potential for contaminant content.

STARCH-BASED PACKING PEANUTS: This lightweight material is made of organic starch derived from corn and quickly dissolves in water. At least one company sells it as compact resin pellets that take up less room in shipping and storage.
— KB