Packaging Up Our Future Environment
The pressure is on for us all to play our part in reducing land fill in the UK. We are still filling sites with five million tons of the stuff every year and this, the government says, must be reduced drastically to have any lasting effect on global warming.
One way for this to be achieved is to reduce the amount of packaging that surrounds our everyday products, with food companies being targeted more than anyone else. But what will this mean for the companies that produce the packaging machinery?
Well, if some of them are anything to go by, nothing much will happen. Supermarkets have made some changes but still want to give their customers the choice of whether or not they use plastic or easily recyclable packing products. Plastic bags are still available and one supermarket claims to have made its salad packaging thinner.
So, the packaging machinery that takes care of this is still being used in abundance, just with thinner plastic. Maybe a better idea would be to make it luminous. Then, when our salad is shoved in the drawer at the bottom of the fridge we won’t forget about until the point where the contents liquefy. Every time we open the fridge door this luminous food product will be screaming at us to be used. It would also do away with the need for the fridge light, thus further saving on environmental pollution.
Packaging machinery is used every day to shrink wrap items of all descriptions. So how come all we see in the news is the shrink wrap around food being vilified? The idea is to get everyone using paper bags that are biodegradable to wrap food rather than the plastic that it usually comes in. Greener packaging – back to my luminous idea, then!
When it comes to the design of packaging machinery, what I want to know is who the hell is responsible for the packaging that refuses to be opened. Why is it necessary to wrap even the smallest item in solid lumps of moulded plastic that defy even the sharpest scissors?
Many a time my husband has been trying to open one of these awful constructions with a sharp implement and slipped. One more than one occasion we have had to make hospital visits due to an accident because of this type of packaging. Note to manufacturers – do not wrap anything in these impossible packages, then we won’t have accidents and we won’t have to take trips to the hospital, thus burning more fuel, thus harming the environment even more.
Newspapers and magazines use packaging machinery but there packaging is of the eco-friendly type when you look at the bulk being delivered to shops. I say why not use the Sun or the News of the World to pack them in – no-one would notice. It’s those individual magazines that are delivered to subscribers that need to have their packaging changed.
Like my husbands. His Caravanning Monthly is delivered in a dark paper envelope. At least, he tells me it’s his caravan magazine, maybe I’ll check next time one drops through the door.
Packaging machinery is adaptable. It can wrap in thinner materials, surely it can wrap in different, eco-friendly materials too? But at the end of the day, does packaging machinery contribute towards pollution by the sheer running of it in the first place?
Catherine Harvey
http://www.articlesbase.com/environment-articles/packaging-up-our-future-environment-379984.html
Why are the packets and boxes so big?
I know that products must display the weight on the packaging, but why does it have to be so big? I bought a packet of washing powder the other day which contained the correct amount of product as per the weight on the box, but when I opened it, the box was only half full. The same applies to any packet of crisps, and all manner of other products. If every manufacturer looked at this, how much would we save in packaging costs, let alone savings to the environment, and ultimately the future of our planet?
They make the packaging so big to make you think that you are getting more than you actually do!
Less packaging, less waste. less rubbish in my always full bin!
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That’s amazing you ask, that’s exactly what my hubby and I were discussing just a couple of days ago. These companies must think were all stark raving mad. What a waste of packaging. Personally I would rather have a smaller packet with a full bag of crisps and the same for washing powder.
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I thought this too. But I think that maybe the contents did originally come further up the box but have settled during transport.
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The answer is shelf space. The more space a product takes up on the shelf, the better it is able to compete for customers’ attention. The amount of shelf space taken up by individual products has risen as the sheer number of products has grown.
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And another thing is when you order something and they send it in a massive box with loads of packaging! I ordered a swimming hat from la fitness online (using up a voucher) and it came in a tiny little plastic case about 4cmx4cmx1cm. They had packaged it in a box about the size of large cereal box! Filled tight with foamy type padding. Its a swimming hat for gods sake, how much padding does it need!
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I completely agree. It’s a marketing thing to make you think you are getting more for your money than you actually are. If the box was 30% smaller than the next brand, but they both contained the same amount, you would probably go for the larger box without stopping to check whether you are getting more in one than the other.
I think that excess packaging is one of the most easily solved forms of wastage. The worst are toys and the amount of plastic involved in packaging a toy for the shop window is incredible.
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Somethings are packaged heavily in order to survive shipping. The excess air acts as a natural cushion for many products.
There are many products out there that are packaged in a manner that I purely geared towards marketing. A larger package for a lower price will make the consumer more inclined to purchase the product. I tricks them into thinking they are obtaining a better value.
It is up to the consumer to break the trend, look at weights an unit prices and let that determined spending habits. We essentially have to train the corporations.
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I asked someone about this once who worked for a packaging company and the answer was "settling of the product" during shipment. Supposedly air serves as protection for dry powders as well. I have noticed though that while some packaging is not larger, the quantity is less. The savings for re-sizing packaging must not be important to manufacturers but you are right about impact on the environment. It would be great just from less garbage. Several package containers can nearly fill one garbage can and breaking them down saves space but it becomes obvious, small stuff comes in larger than needed packages.
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The packet size and indeed the amount of packaging in general use throughout all consumer products is to try and ensure that products are noticeable on the shelves and in the shop windows. Consumers are attracted by such slogans as "a big, big, packet for only fifty pence" only to find that the quantity is still the same as the old packet for 30 pence. There is no doubt that a reduction in the amount of packing material would benefit the environment but don’t be so sure that it would benefit the consumer. Our defences against a lot of the bacteria that were present on unpackaged food in the past have been bred out of us. If a return to unpackaged food was made so would the bacterial infections return to affect our unprotected digestive systems. Also prices would escalate as the space for manufacturer’s advertisements would be reduced.
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Peter Tertzakian is an economist, investment strategist, author and public speaker. He is Chief Energy Economist &
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