Eric DesRoberts continues his monthly series of facts and tidbits he’s uncovered during his research to better understand products and packaging. You can also check out his Fun Facts: October. 1. The US collected 1.5 trillion pounds of post consumer PET bottles in 2010 with the gross recycling rate for PET bottles reaching 29.1%. There was a 50 million pound jump in collection as a result … More
Eric DesRoberts continues his monthly series of facts and tidbits he’s uncovered during his research to better understand products and packaging. You can also check out his Fun Facts: September. 1. Around 90% of the price of a bottle of water is for things other than the water itself. This includes bottling, packaging, shipping, and marketing. According to the EPA, in the US, the average … More
Findings from a series of recent Official Food Control Authority Laboratory reports coming out of Switzerland have raised concerns over mineral oil migration occurring in packaging made with recycled content. The reports focused on technical grade oils that are largely linked to inks used in newspapers entering the recycling stream. This research builds on previous studies suggesting that technical grade mineral oils pose health concerns … More
Constantly sifting through articles, blogs, regulations, and documents about packaging brings you to some dark and lonely corners of the internet, but it also exposes you to interesting and somewhat esoteric pieces of information. As a packaging and sustainability enthusiast, I find myself treading water in the deluge of information and acronyms, and I thought it would be nice to share some of the fun … More
Most of us are now aware of the environmental impacts and availability issues surrounding fossil fuels. You are also probably aware of some of the alternatives being developed to address these issues. I recently read two articles that highlighted very different alternatives for generating fuel while diverting waste. The first article was on converting waste plastics into fuels. Many organizations developing this conversion process are … More
Thinking about the three pillars that define sustainability, I often feel that the social aspect becomes an afterthought behind environmental and economic considerations. What does it mean to be socially sustainable? What are we trying to capture by including this in the vision of sustainability? While I have a general sense that social sustainability should address issues like quality of life, equity, working conditions, living … More
As the newest member of the GreenBlue team, I thought I should introduce myself and look back on my first month as a Project Associate working primarily with the Sustainable Packaging Coalition. A Bit About Me: As part of my graduate studies in Resource Economics and Policy at the University of Maine, I spent the better part of the last two and a half years … More