Can we move forward by circling back?

Sustainability. It’s become more than a buzzword. It’s the lens through which we view practically everything these days. It’s how we help customers create their packaging. We even have a name for it: Design for recyclability. It means considering every aspect of a package’s life in relationship to our environment and in our drive to a circular economy. We’re not there yet, but we’re closing gaps every day. And we love to share our passion, and our progress.

Using less material

One way to make sure less plastic enters the environment is to use less of it in the first place. Using resins that achieve desired results with less material just makes sense, taking advantage of material reduction and downgauging. Here are a few options:

• INNATE™ Precision Packaging Resins – A single resin doing the work of many others. With distinctive and valuable property combinations, additives and blends may not be needed. This balance of properties may allow for downgauging.That can help the environment and the bottom line.
• AGILITY™ Performance LDPE Resins – Alone or in blends, these nimble resins can help make the most of their use. Less material is needed to achieve the same mechanical properties. Increased line speeds and processing efficiencies may also help reduce energy use.
• ELITE™ Enhanced Polyethylene Resins – Another do-it-all option, with more combinations of properties allowing material substitutions, material reductions, and more. Increased stiffness and improved barrier properties can reduce film thickness.
• DOWLEX™ Polyethylene Resins – A mainstay in the packaging lineup, these resins can work on their own, as well as make downgauging possible when used in blends. Toughness across many applications helps decrease product damage, too.

Design for recyclability

Recycling helps close the loop. It’s a big loop in the circular economy. But recycling flexible plastic packaging isn’t always easy. So we’re working on it. A lot. Using strategies such as structure simplification, eco-design and compatibilization. Recent developments include:

RecycleReady Technology is a licensed process developed by Dow which helps create multi-layer, flexible packaging that can be recycled through store drop-off programs.

RETAIN™ Polymer Modifier helps hard-to-recycle barrier film scrap become easier to recycle. New, recycled films are now possible, and even perform better than the originals in some applications

Innovating for sustainable packaging

Sustainable packaging can take many forms. But one thing is common – collaboration with others, inside and outside of our own organizations.

PacXpert™ Packaging Technology brings a flexible packaging alternative to rigid packaging. This patented and licensed technology offers many sustainability advantages and options for packaging edible and non-edible, solid and liquid contents. Plus, RecycleReady Technology can be used with PacXpert™ Technology.

Incubapack is a collaborative effort bringing the resources of our Pack Studios and various value chain members together to help brand owners and packagers accelerate their journey to more sustainable solutions. Help them find material substitution options (flexible packaging) for their products. Focus on sustainability is key.

Are there other paths to a circular economy out there? Ways to ensure plastic never sees a landfill or ocean? We’d love to hear your ideas.