However there is a heavy cost to this process. Although packaging is useful it does account for millions of tons of waste every year. Some of this is recycled but the majority of it does go straight to landfill. This is a huge waste of vital environmental resources.

The Future of Packaging

As we become more aware of our impact on the environment the high costs of packaging is becoming a major issue. A large number of consumers are now actively choosing the more eco-friendly alternative when they shop by opting for packaging that can be recycled. This means that for manufacturers it is now more possible than every to take a “greener” approach to packaging whilst still meeting their marketing objectives. The new trend in sustainable packaging is rapidly growing and spreading throughout the food, clothing and general goods markets.

What is Sustainable Packaging?

Sustainable packaging is designed to reduce wastage and conserve important resources. There are three main elements to this:

• Reduce — a large percentage of the time packaging is designed to be larger than really necessary. Manufacturers use this technique to make products appear bigger than they actually are and also to make them more eye-catching. However this is a main cause of wastage. Simply by reducing the size of packaging a vast amount of paper, cardboard and plastic can be saved every year.
• Reuse — many modern materials can only be used once. This means they have to then go straight to landfill once throw away. By selectively choosing materials that can be reused manufacturers can contribute greatly to reducing wastage. For example paper products can be reused successfully up to 7 different times.
• Recycle — by recycling materials we can make sure they are reintroduced into the industrial chain and reused for another purpose. This helps to reduce the strain on the planet’s fragile resources and save on wastage. When we recycle materials such as paper, plastic and glass we can are actively working to reduce landfill and conserve valuable materials.

The Costs of Sustainable Packaging

Finding new ways to package goods can be costly but the benefits are there. Materials are getting more and more expensive these days. By cutting back on packaging size manufacturers can not only reduce wastage but they can also cut costs on the production line significantly. Also customers are actively seeking out sustainable packaging. By choosing this option it can be possible to gain an edge over competitors.

Another important point is that environmental issues are here to stay. The government can no longer afford to ignore the monumental task of cutting wastage and conserving resources. This means that in the future it is likely that more incentives will be provided for manufacturers that do present eco-friendly measures such as sustainable packaging.

Take steps now towards reducing landfill and protecting the planet’s resources by choosing sustainable packaging when you shop or design your packaging.

The new contract packaging line is capable of filling tubes up to 60 ppm.

Garden Grove, CA (PRWEB) July 22, 2010 0 — Responding to customer requests, the Aaron Thomas Company, Inc. of Garden Grove, California, has installed an RT60 squeeze tube filling line supplied by ProSys Innovative Packaging Equipment of Webb City, Missouri. The machine is capable of filling up to 60 tubes per minute and is capable of filling metal, plastic and laminate tube types.

The RT60 can handle viscosities to 3 million centipoise and multiple closure styles.

“We selected the RT60 over other models because of the simple changeovers,” said Thomas Bacon, president and founder of Aaron Thomas. “It has a great combination of value and features.”

Suitable for cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, innitial orders are for filling health care products. Said Bacon, “The Aaron Thomas Company has always been interested in seeking partnerships and long term relationships. We installed this line because several of our customers in the health care sector have requested this packaging service and didn’t want to go elsewhere.”

The addition of a tube filling line rounds out Aaron Thomas Company’s other contract packaging services which include pouching, bagging, shrink wrapping, assembly and flow wrapping.

For more information, contact Thomas Bacon or visit www.packaging.com.

About Aaron Thomas Company, Inc.

The Aaron Thomas Company, Inc. provides contract packaging services and solutions for national and international corporations. With its headquarters in Los Angeles, Memphis and Chicago, their three locations are strategically located to service all of North America for regional packaging and national product roll-outs. Aaron Thomas has been secretly packaging the products of Fortune 500 and small businesses since 1973.

Garden Grove, CA (PRWEB) June 15, 2010 — Aaron Thomas Company, Inc., a leading provider of packaging services, announced today the opening of a 420,000 square foot contract packaging, warehousing and distribution center in Crest Hill, Illinois.

Our new facility is a proactive response to the future growth of our clients in the region. Aaron Thomas Company originally moved to Chicago in 2005. The new packaging facility in Chicago triples the size of their old building in Bolingbrook, Illinois. “We simply outgrew our building in Bolingbrook,” says Thomas Bacon, President of Aaron Thomas Company. “Our new building will allow us to handle seasonal promotions of merchandising displays as well as allowing us expand into primary food packaging services like we offer in California.”

Located just 45 minutes from downtown Chicago, the Crest Hill facility will provide contract packaging services to manufacturers of the upper Midwest. Says Bacon, “Since we own the building we can control costs because we are not subject to periodic increases in rent. Plus our new facility is a proactive response to the future growth of our clients in the region.”

A contract packager is the general term used for a company that offers outsourced packaging services such as assembly, shrink wrapping, filling, boxing and sealing.

The expansion of the Chicago packaging service center is one of the strategic priorities for Aaron Thomas Company’s top management and is essential to providing packaging solutions for national and international clients.

For more information, contact Thomas Bacon or visit www.packaging.com.

About Aaron Thomas Company, Inc.

The Aaron Thomas Company, Inc. provides contract packaging services and solutions for national and international corporations. With its headquarters in Garden Grove, California and facilities in Memphis, Tennessee and Crest Hill, Illinois, their three locations are strategically located to service all of North America for regional packaging and national product roll-outs. Aaron Thomas has been secretly packaging the products of Fortune 500 and small businesses since 1973.

This means that we can provide organic packaging services including stand-up pouches, portion pouches, sticks and other forms of packaging out of our Los Angeles, California packaging facility.

We think about bad packaging when they hit the news. For example “Ecoli Outbreak Attributed to Packaging.” Packaging that on the surface seems like a good idea but then backfires due to some unforeseen circumstance that takes place. Why wait until it becomes an issue?

Wolfgang Puck found out about “bad” packaging the hard way when his new self heating latte cans hit the retailer shelf and started exploding. Was it his fault? Probably not, but the words “Product Recall” were shouted from the isles.

“Fabuloso” experienced a similar problem when it designed the packaging for its cleaning products to look like soda or beverage bottles. Children confused the “fabulous” colors with the real thing. A few poisonings later they realized they had made a huge mistake.

All packaging problems certainly don’t rise to the level of these two examples. A problem can be something of minor significance. Nonetheless, it is a problem and in many cases can be avoided or at the very least modified or anticipated. You would be surprised at how many people contact me knowing in advance that their packaging may have a problem yet they never do anything about it. Perhaps they will be the next big news story.

In any case, there are ways to foresee potentially “bad” packaging situations. A little forward thinking may alleviate impending problems. Here are some common questions that could pave the way to avoiding potential packaging problems:

Should I put my product in a plastic clamshell? The number one contested “packaging” issue revolves around the plastic clamshell and how difficult it is to open or penetrate without causing bodily harm. Can you anticipate this problem? You bet. Weigh your options when considering this type of packaging. Even with your best effort to make the clamshell easy to open, you may end up as an “Oyster Award” candidate and be labeled as one of the most difficult packages to open.

What is “green” packaging and how can I incorporate it into my packaging design? Whether to use green packaging or not should not be the question. What you should be asking is does utilizing environmentally friendly packaging materials make sense for my product?
Am I going green legitimately or just jumping on the “green” bandwagon to make a buck? Will I be mandated to use “green” packaging materials by retailers? What other options can I consider that aren’t “green?” You really need to take some time to analyze these and other questions before you advance your packaging development in the wrong direction.

My packaging is working now should I change it to new and improved or give it a packaging makeover? Remember my negative packaging trend for 07. Don’t fix it, if it ain’t broken. Consumers hate change. When they go to look for their trusted brand on the retailer’s shelf, you want to ensure they recognize your product easily. If they don’t, they may be forced to buy from the competition. Keep packaging consistency and continuity to make it easy for consumers to buy from you.

Who regulates what needs to be on my product packaging? The answer is just about everyone. Outside of the various regulatory agencies that tell you what can and must be placed on your product packaging you could be mandated by a plethora out outside influences. Here are a few examples.

Going Green? Better listen to what Wal-Mart has to say with their “Packaging Scorecard.”

Trading in the organic space? Better understand what the work organic means to your product and who is watching out looking for a mislabeled package or a claim that can’t be validated.

Making weight loss claims or dietary claims on your product packaging? Just about every one will be on your case. These claims are heavily scrutinized, not just by regulatory agencies but by consumers too. They are taking charge of their own well being. They “can” and will read them.

Pay attention to these common packaging questions to which many companies don’t find adequate answers before they embark on their product packaging. By doing so, you may anticipate potential packaging problems that could result in packaging problems. Do your homework. Use a little common sense and think about packaging issues relative to your product. Consider what you can do to avoid potential pitfalls before it’s too late.

About the Author:

JoAnn Hines is the Chief Executive Officer at J.R. Hines International, a firm providing consulting services in the packaging industry. For over 30 years, Ms. Hines has been engaged in packaging trends, forecasting, ideation/brainstorming and implementing innovative new packaging technologies.

Need insights on packaging trends that can impact your business? Get the Packaging Diva on your team. Visit PackagingUniversity.com to find out about the latest packaging innovations.

Packaging will appeal to the sense of style and the desires of your customers, which will help them make a decision. Marketing and advertising will both play important roles in the process, but neither of these roles are nearly as close to your product as packaging is, because the decision to make a purchase during the shopping experience is made specifically at the store level and not at the marketing or advertising level. Packaging is capable of drawing the consumer in, in addition to changing the view of a brand in order to help the customer make the purchase that they need.

What we need to think about then, is our packaging that we are using as well as the choices that we are making when it comes to packaging and selling our products. If the packaging is not doing anything when it comes to drawing attention to the product, then nobody is going to buy the product. Great packaging designs are going to support the brand, and in many cases, good packaging is also capable of building, creating and reflecting the brand. Whether your packaging is designed for business to business sales or consumer retail sales, packaging is everything when it comes to truly reflecting the brand.

It is important that you really get to know your market well so that you can make sure you are having a positive level of penetration. Also, having a good packaging design will continue to work for your company and your product for many years to come, which will allow you to build a large amount of loyalty all along the way. It is important, for this reason, that you make a point to know your customers well, and that you choose your packaging options accordingly in order to be able to penetrate the market with your packaging. When you come up with a solid concept for packaging, that is when you can generate real brand power, garnering the appreciation of your customers and building business as a result.

1. Prevention is step one, because waste prevention should definitely be a primary goal when it comes to product and packaging development. Packaging should only be used where it is absolutely needed. Proper packaging is also an excellent way for your company to help to prevent excess waste. Packaging can play an important role in helping to prevent loss or damage to the contents of the packaging. The energy content as well as the material usage for whatever product is being packaged is usually going to be much greater than the energy content of the package itself. One of the most vital functions of the package is to protect whatever contents are inside for their intended use. For example, if the product is either damaged or degraded, then its material content and energy content may have been entirely lost.

2. Minimization is also known as source reduction, and relates to the mass and the volume of packaging. The mass and the volume of packaging, for each individual unit of content, are capable of being measured as well as used as one of the numerous criteria for minimizing during the process of packaging and design. Reduced packaging makes it possible for costs to be significantly minimized. Packaging engineers are consistently working toward reducing their packaging.

3. Reuse is important because it is encouraged for packaging or components of packaging to be reused for other purposes. When packaging is capable of being returned, it is even more useful as well as more economically viable as well, especially when it comes to closed loop logistical systems. In some case inspection and cleaning are required, and repair and recouperage may also be required in some instances.

4. Recycling involves the reprocessing of packaging materials, including pre consumer materials and post consumer materials in order to create new products. Emphasis is placed on recycling the largest packaging components, especially when it comes to primary components such as paper, plastic, steel and aluminum for example. Smaller components can also be chosen but they are sometimes much more difficult to separate, so they are only chosen when they do not contaminate the operations of recycling.

5. Energy recovery allows for heat to be made available from packaging components through refuse derived fuel and waste to energy processes which can be conducted within approved facilities.

6. Disposal is needed for some materials used in packaging, which means incineration as well as placement within a sanitary landfill. Certain states located within the United States will regulate packages for contents that are potentially toxic, especially if these packages have the potential to contaminate the air from incineration. Packaging like this should never simply be littered.

We hope this provides you a good starting point for your greener package design.

Can you imagine going to the store, purchasing a yogurt cup, and then eating not only the contents of the cup but also the cup itself? This is a new innovation that is happening in the trend toward creating healthier and environmentally friendly alternatives. There is an organic food company operating out of California that is working hard to research this type of product.

Another example of alternative food packaging is edible films. The Division of Agriculture of the University of Arkansas is working on inventing and patenting several different protein-based films that are capable of serving as a carrier for organic acids capable of inhibiting the growth of three major food borne bacteria, which are E. coli, Salmonella and Listeria moncytogense. Additionally, these films can be used as a vehicle to deliver antioxidants, flavors, nutraceuticals, colors and a number other functional types of ingredients. There are a number of anticipated applications which include meats, vegetables, fruits, seafood, frozen pizza and frozen snacks, cereals, nuts and seeds and much more. This category is proving itself to be at the very cutting edge for when it comes to innovative food packaging trends in this day and age.

However, there are a number of challenges that this type of packaging is liable to face. The prices associated with organic foods are tending to be higher when it comes to the supermarket channel. The problem is going to have more to do with supply and demand in this particular instance. According to a study by Arcus, organic food has grown by 20 percent over the period of the last decade. And yet, it is still being perceived as a small business, with only 3.5 percent of the food industry in Canada, or $1.8 billion dollars per year. Small changes in the way of supply and demand are capable of rocking the entire industry. For example, if a company has a 7 percent share and wants to grow to 10 percent, they will need to grow their entire supply chain by as much as 50 percent. The supply chain just does not exist the same way today.

The one thing that dissuades customers from buying organic today in most cases is the price of the food. The explosion that private label organic food is experiencing is definitely going to be a good thing. Private labels are finally entering into this market in a truly big way, allowing large scale retail chains such as Safeway as well as Whole Foods to focus on creating organic food products as a differentiator in terms of competition, allowing this category to finally reach out to people who shop based on price. Private label organic is also making organic more acceptable on a broad scale, allowing for a deeper level of society to be penetrated. Finally, organic private label will create additional supply to fuel supply and demand as farmers and suppliers begin to realize that organic food is here to stay and is not just another fad.

There have been a wide variety of different product packaging innovations that have come to make our lives a lot easier. There are also a number of different types of packaged products that we tend to simply take for granted, without necessarily realizing how the packaging made the product possible. For example, could we have potato chips or eggs without their packages? There are dozens of different egg drop contests all over the country that are held to create unique packaging options for eggs. Could we have toothpaste without the unique packing that makes it possible? Could we pop microwave popcorn without its unique bag?

There is a truly astounding list of packaging innovations that have been able to influence our everyday lives. There have been a myriad of different important packing innovations that have been developed in the last fifty years or so. There are a lot of key words that are regularly used when describing innovations in the world of product packaging, including terms like microwavable, shelf stable, juice box, meal replacement and home meal are all terms that have come as direct results from innovations in the world of product packaging. What many companies are now facing is how they can integrate innovative packaging concepts into their own project packaging in order to get the most out of their product packaging while utilizing the newest technologies as well as the most effective ways of packaging something.

How can you take your current type of packaging and somehow improve upon it? Looking at packaging innovations in the food industry is an excellent way to see how companies have been able to make packaging work for them. For examples, Sargento cheese was the first cheese company to put a reclosable zipper on the packaging for their shredded cheese. Wishbone Salad Dressing was the first company to develop salad dressing that could be sprayed rather than poured. Clorox developed a bleaching application capable of being applied directly to a stain, a Clorox bleach pen. By looking at these examples, it should not be impossible for you to see what it means to make packaging work for you. If your product can be improved upon in some way based on its packaging, or if you can somehow develop packaging that is innovative, then you are definitely making your packaging work for you.

Packaging is also capable of being discussed in relation to what type of product is actually being packaged within, such as bulk chemical packaging for example, or medical device packaging, over the counter packaging for drugs, food packaging for retail sales, military materials packaging, pharmaceuticals packaging and so on and so forth.

Sometimes it is convenient for people to categorize the different types of packaging based on their layer of function, such as primary packaging, secondary packaging, tertiary packaging and so on and so forth. In this particular scenario when it comes to identifying packaging based on its function, primary packaging is described as the material that is designed to envelope and to d the specific product itself. Primary packaging is usually the absolute smallest possible unit of use or of distribution, and it is also commonly regarded as the packaging that actually comes in a direct level of contact with the actual contents. Secondary packaging on the other hand is the type of packaging that is outside of the primary level of packaging and this level of packaging functionality is often used specifically to group a number of primary packages together with one another. The third level of packaging is tertiary packaging, which is especially common for bulk handling, transport shipping as well as warehouse storage. The most common form of tertiary packaging is a palletized unit loan that is packed into tight containers.

When soda pop is poured into aluminum cans and sealed, the aluminum can is perceived to be the primary form of packaging because it is the closest form of packaging to the actual product. The aluminum cans are sold in cases made of cardboard, which are perceived to be the secondary form of packaging because they are the packages that contain the primary packages. Finally, the tertiary form of packaging is perceived as whatever specific form of packaging is used for the purpose of wide spread distribution, such as a pallet system for example, where a large number of cases of cans of soda are wrapped in shrink wrap and carried on large wooden pallets to their destination.

These broad categories are often viewed as being somewhat arbitrary in nature. For example, depending on the specific use, shrink wrap is capable of being considered as primary packaging when it is being applied directly to the specific product, but it is also considered secondary packaging when the shrink wrap is used to combine smaller packages, and in some distribution packs shrink wrap is used as tertiary packaging as it keeps large pallets of products together in one place.