Sustainable Packaging
Working together towards circularity
Sustainability. It’s more than a buzzword. It’s the lens through which we view practically everything these days. It reflects how we bring value to plastic packaging – advancing the benefits of lighter yet stronger materials, energy efficiencies in processing, waste reduction and recycling capabilities, and more. Most importantly, it directs 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 believe plastic or any other kind of packaging should never end up in the environment as waste. Instead, we work toward a world where the value of plastic is retained for as long as possible and environmental concerns are eliminated.
We love to share our passion, and our progress toward our goals and those of our customers, such as their goals for material reduction in packaging, reusability, recyclability and use of recycled content. And there is a lot to share!
Package reusability offers long-term value to both the consumer and the environment. By creating packaging – both rigid and flexible – that can be reused or repurposed and its original use greatly extends the sustainability profile of the package, while also reducing the need for new packaging to be produced, thus further decreasing environmental impacts.
DOW™ HDPE Resins are a mainstay throughout the packaging industry. They deliver the desired properties for a vast array of rigid packaging applications, including durability for use and reuse and more reuse.
In other applications, such as industrial containers, pallets, and crates, their toughness allows continued functionality across years of daily use and abuse.
PacXpert™ Packaging Technology offers flexible packaging alternatives to rigid packaging for use with solid and liquid food and non-food applications. These packages can be re-used just like rigid packaging.
Investing in recycling is a major Dow initiative. Mechanical recycling through established recycling protocols for rigid plastic packaging can provide consistent, high-quality PCR resins for future use. Advanced recycling offers a wider range of recyclable materials to be collected and offer near virgin-quality resins upon completion of the recycling process.
Using PCR content ensures a positive outlet for recycled packaging, enhances the sustainability profile of a package, and can help achieve packaging that can be further recycled. Win, win, win! Dow is actively engaged in developing PCR resins and incorporating PCR into formulations for numerous 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. These packages can be re-used just like rigid packaging, plus, mono-material structures are possible to enable recyclability.
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.
MDO films (machine direction orientation) are one of Dow’s newest developments, a promising – but very tricky – technology. At Pack Studios locations, we are working with industry experts, converters, and others to master this technology’s ability to greatly enhance a film’s physical properties, as well as literally stretch the usefulness of a film by increasing the finished dimensions. Other sustainable advantages include material reduction and downgauging opportunities, material substitution potential, all-PE film options for recyclability, and processing line efficiencies for energy conservation.
Reducing food waste also promotes sustainability. Well-designed food packaging can help:
- Protect foods delivered over longer distances for grocery retailer online sales and food subscription boxes
- Reduce food waste by extending the distribution- and shelf-life of food and avoid premature spoilage
- Allow for fewer preservatives, additives and saturated fats through improved seals and barrier layers
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