Recently in Green Product Design Category

USDA's proposed BioPreferred eco-labeling program that will identify "bio-based" (i.e., made out of agricultural, forestry, or marine-based ingredients) products and packages.

The USDA "BioPreferred" list includes "BioPreferred" list include PLA-based plastics, vegetable oil-based cleaning fluids, and soaps made from natural ingredients--but not food or fuel.

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is making it easier for consumers to identify biobased products through the release of its proposed BioPreferredSM labeling rule. USDA's BioPreferred labeling program, published today in the Federal Register, intends to create a product label that would appear on qualifying BioPreferred biobased products. When final, this regulation will allow biobased product manufacturers to participate in a voluntary labeling program to identify biobased products on retail store shelves. "Increasing the purchase and use of biobased products is a priority of the Obama Administration because it helps increase our nation's energy security and independence by using American agricultural products, while spurring economic development in rural areas," said Vilsack. "Consumers want to make more informed product choice decisions and BioPreferred will help them. This label will help consumers, businesses and Federal government purchasers easily identify biobased products." Manufacturers will be able to utilize the BioPreferred label, when finalized, to help customers identify their products as biobased. Currently, USDA has identified more than 15,000 commercially available biobased products across approximately 200 categories, from cleaning products to construction materials. Biobased products are available to consumers today and the new label will help make these sustainable products more accessible and serve as a valuable marketing tool for manufacturers and vendors of biobased products. Biobased products are products that are composed wholly or significantly of biological ingredients - renewable plant, animal, marine or forestry materials. A BioPreferred designated item is one that meets or exceeds USDA-established minimum biobased content requirements.

This Federal Register notice announces the program's intent to create and make available a voluntary product label for increased commercial and consumer promotion of biobased products. USDA, through the publication of this draft rule, seeks to notify and gather feedback from interested groups and the public-at-large on this process. More information about BioPreferred's proposed labeling rule can be found at www.biopreferred.gov or contact BioPreferred at biopreferred@usda.gov. BioPreferred encourages interested parties to submit comments on the proposed rule until Sept. 29, 2009. To submit comments go to http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/E9-17610.htm. The BioPreferred program was created by the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (2002 Farm Bill) as a preferred procurement program to increase the purchase and use of biobased products within the Federal government. The Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 (2008 Farm Bill) expanded the program's scope to promote the sale of biobased products in other sectors.

BioPreferred is comprised of two programs: a preferred procurement program for Federal agencies and a voluntary labeling program for the broad scale marketing of biobased products. A complete list and detailed description of each BioPreferred designated item, and items for future designation, can be found at www.biopreferred.gov or follow BioPreferred at http://twitter.com/BioPreferred

ULE will soon test a number a range of products in line for environmental certification, including sunglasses, wind turbines, dishwashers and televisions

UL Environment, or U.L.E., new subsidiary of Underwriters Laboratories that is launching global environmental-standards, has awarded its first product certification to EcoRock, a recycled drywall.

UL Environment gave Serious Materials in Sunnyvale, Calif., an environmental certification that will help the company sell EcoRock panels for building projects aiming for LEED certification from the USGBC. 

The company will soon test a number of other products in line for environmental certification, including sunglasses, wind turbines, dishwashers and televisions, said the vice president and general manager of U.L.E., Marcello Manca.

RESOURCE: UL Environment

UL Environment's Database of Environmentally Sustainable Products
Manufacturers may submit their products for UL testing and environmental claims validation.

With California's new green chemistry plan, the state is moving from 'claims of green' to 'metrics of green.'

Green is not a useful term when a company does one thing to make their product green, but their overall footprint is not good. The state of California will now start looking at how green is green. And how to compare this product to that product."

Approximately 100,000 known chemicals are used in manufacturing production today, but safety data is available on only a few thousand. In California, 644 million pounds of chemical products are sold each day.

The proposed "Green Chemistry" initiative comes at a time of growing concern that the federal Toxic Substances Control Act, passed three decades ago, has failed to control an explosion of hazardous materials.

"The federal government has not required ingredients disclosure for all products," Gorsen said. "Now for the first time, we will know what is in products -- and not just those made in California but anything sold in California."

Two California laws passed last fall have jump-started the program. AB 1879, sponsored by Assemblyman Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles), requires the state to identify "chemicals of concern" and to evaluate safer alternatives. SB 509, sponsored by Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto), creates a scientific clearinghouse for information on chemicals' effects.

Automakers and electronics manufacturers lobbied against the bills, saying that, given the new European standards, they could be subjected to a patchwork of warning labels.

Read more at the LA Times

Green Products Under Scrutiny

Many manufacturers claim their products are environmentally-friendly, but how green are they? Priya David reports.

Green is the catchword for natural resources conservation in today's marketplace. The short is short and sweet, almost genetic in its core understanding. We love green...the trees and grass and food sources.

But green products and services require a healthy dose of realism and conscience beyond those universal understandings. By one count, manufacturers launched 328 supposedly environmentally friendly products last year, up from just 5 in 2002.

"Environmental" claims such as rcycled content, non-toxic ingredients, lower emissions, etc. must pass Federal Trade Commission standards on packaging and in advertising.

Certifications such as USDA organic, EnergyStar, LEED, and Canadian EcoLogo auditing and verification programs help consumers sort "marketing slime" from verifiable, measurable, specific claims.

The FTC is cracking down on green marketing. They are accelerating review of  aging FTC "environmental claims" requirements ahead of their normal scheduled review. Watch for increased scrutiny...and labeling specifics. Get ready to have your products tested, reviewed, certified and audited if you want to tap into the green marketplace.

Reference: CBS Interactive. May 18, 2008

Specificity

An environmental marketing claim should specify whether it refers to the product, the packaging or both, or just to a component of the product or its packaging.

A box of cereal is labeled "recycled package." The package consists of a paperboard box with a wax paper bag inside holding the cereal. By itself, the claim "recycled package" could apply to both the box and the bag. If only the box is recycled, the claim is deceptive. It should be qualified to say, for example, "recycled box."

A steel can that contains vegetables is labeled "recycled." No qualification is necessary for this claim because it is obvious to consumers that the can is recycled-not the vegetables.

Qualifications (that is, disclosures or explanations) pertaining to an environmental claim should be clear, prominent and understandable. Clarity can be achieved through the size of the type face, proximity of the qualification to the claim being qualified, and absence of contrary language that could undercut effectiveness.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) seeks to prevent deception and unfairness in the marketplace. The FTC Act gives the Commission the power to bring law enforcement actions against false or misleading marketing claims, including environmental or "green" marketing claims. The FTC issued its Environmental Guides, often referred to as the "Green Guides," in 1992, and revised them most recently in 1998. The Guides indicate how the Commission will apply Section 5 of the FTC Act, which prohibits unfair or deceptive acts or practices, to environmental marketing claims.

Federal Trade commission:  Facts for Business

Innocentive

InnoCentive was set up by Eli Lilly in 2001 as an experimental way to farm out some of the giant drugmaker’s biggest product development challenges by posting them on the Web and inviting people around the world to submit competing solutions, with a substantial monetary prize as the reward for the winner.

Two years ago, Lilly spun out the company as an independent venture, and it has since diversified beyond the life sciences to a range of disciplines, such as computer science and cleantech. And today, the organization announced that it’s raised a new pile of venture money—$6.5 million altogether, which it will use to upgrade its platform and expand its network of “solvers,” people who submit solutions in hopes of winning awards that range from $10,000 to $1 million.  To date, solvers have collected over $3 million in awards, according to InnoCentive.

It works like this: Companies (called “seekers”) work with InnoCentive to craft a well-defined challenge and pick a dollar amount for the award. InnoCentive then alerts its network of solvers, and those who choose to engage in a particular challenge are given access to online project rooms containing proprietary details about the seeker’s project. At the end of the challenge period, the seeker evaluates the solutions and chooses one as the winner; InnoCentive then helps transfer the rights to the solution from the solver to the seeker’s organization.

It isn’t “crowdsourcing” in the typical Web 2.0 sense of throwing open a problem and soliciting thoughts and contributions from thousands of random Internet surfers. It would be more accurate to describe InnoCentive’s platform as a mechanism for soliciting RFPs (requests for proposals) from a much broader cross-section of experts than any company could reach through the traditional business consulting process.

InnoCentive CEO Dwayne Spradlin says, "it’s ready for prime time. In the past six months, we’ve added challenge categories including business and entrepreneurship, engineering and design, physical sciences, and mathematics and computer sciences. We’ve increased the number of tools we offer—we used to focus on deep research-type tools but now we also offer “ideation” tools that help large numbers of people brainstorm very quickly, and electronic RFPs so that clients can find business partners very quickly, and help managing intellectual property rights. So we’ve gone beyond the proof-of-concept stage to the stage of getting InnoCentive into the hands of as many organizations as possible."

Planet Eureka

Companies like Procter & Gamble use Innocentive’s system to find new product ideas faster than they might on their own, and the model has even inspired imitators such as Ohio-based Planet Eureka, which launched last in April 2008.

READ MORE: xconomy.com

Movies and television are the key drivers to toy sales

Lionel Emerges From Bankruptcy As Entertainment Firm
The Wall Street Journal
Lionel LLC, which emerged from bankruptcy-court protection last week, will be an entertainment company and not just a toymaker, according to CEO Gerald Calabrese, a former Marvel Comics executive who shepherded the 108-year-old company through bankruptcy. "We're not the distribution and sales mechanism anymore," he says. "We're the intellectual property.

Breaking into the broader toy market is key to Lionel's growth, Calabrese says. During the company's stint under bankruptcy protection, sales for Lionel starter sets--kid-friendly systems that range in price from $129 to $300--more than doubled. Developing new products that appeal to children and getting them on the shelves at big retail outlets is only part of what Calabrese calls the pop-cultural segment of the toy market. He says that in today's marketplace, movies and television are the key drivers to sales.

There are lessns to be learned here for green companies that conduct research and development. Products are inherently appealing to consumers...but not all companies that are expert in research and development of products are also experts at marketing, distribution and corporate finance for global marketplaces.
  

THE WAL-MART SUSTAINABILITY SCORECARD

It’s likely that you’ll soon have to comply with your customers’ sustainability initiatives as well as your own. That's the case if you provide products for the Wal-Mart chain of retail outlets.

Wal-Mart has taken a "lifecycle approach" to packaging with objectives covering reduction in waste and renewable energy. Nine weighted parameters of Wal-Mart's sustainability scorecard are measured for their prospective and current vendors.

Wal-Mart has told its buyers that, starting in 2008, they should consider the packaging scores when choosing among various products for its Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores. Matt Kistler, Vice President - Package and Product Innovations, Sam's Club Wal-Mart

Part of the challenge in rolling out greener products is informing customers about changes that affect their perception of savings. Wal-Mart's April 2008 "Earth Month" promotion is highlighting its greener products and informing customers how making better choices, especially on a large scale, can cause a difference. Wal-Mart is featuring more than 50 products in stores and 500 online, from transitional cotton shirts to mulch made from rubber to Clorox Green Works products.

The majority of Wal-Mart's environmental footprint comes from suppliers. The company has direct control on about 8 percent of its footprint, with the remaining 92 percent coming from its supply chain.

To green its supply chain the company launched a it's "Wal-Mart Packaging Scorecard" in 2007 . By filling in information about products' packaging, suppliers are rated and find out their rank in relation to peers. Kistler said Wal-Mart works with suppliers, telling them what they can do to improve and let them know what other suppliers have done to reduce packaging.

Sustainable packaging: Is beneficial, safe & healthy for individuals and communities throughout its life cycle; Meets market criteria for performance and cost; Is sourced, manufactured, transported, and recycled using renewable energy; Maximizes the use of renewable or recycled source materials; Is manufactured using clean production technologies and best practices; Is made from materials healthy in all probable end of life scenarios; Is physically designed to optimize materials and energy; Is effectively recovered and utilized in biological and/or industrial cradle to cradle cycles. The criteria presented here blend broad sustainability objectives with business considerations and strategies that address the environmental concerns related to the life cycle of packaging. These criteria relate to the activities of our membership and define the areas in which we actively seek to encourage transformation, innovation and optimization. We believe that by successfully addressing these criteria, packaging can be transformed into a cradle to cradle flow of packaging materials in a system that is economically robust and provides benefit throughout the life cycle—a sustainable packaging system. SOURCE: Sustainable Packaging Coalition

Whether it's called sustainable packaging, green packaging, biodegradable packaging, or natural packaging, there is a growing consumer demand for sustainable products. There is also a growing sense of urgency from product manufacturers - especially consumer packaged goods companies (CPGs) - to develop sustainable business practices based on the increasingly limited availability of traditional packaging materials.

Optimizing packaging materials, reducing shipping weight and cube, and increasing packaging cubic densities can lead to significant savings. While there may be minimal material savings in direct packaging costs, it can have a multiplier effect on the cost of transportation, handling and storage. A change in packaging can create a ripple effect throughout the supply chain producing efficiency gains, dramatic cost-savings and reduced energy consumption.

In spite of sustainable packaging becoming more mainstream (i.e. more major brand owners using sustainable materials for their packaging), finding sustainable solutions to meet consumer demands and corporate citizenship objectives is still a daunting challenge for packaging professionals.

The Packaging Summit Expo and Conference
May 13-15, 2008
Donald Stephens Convention Center,
Rosemont, IL
262-782-1900
www.pkgsummit.com

TIPS For Packaging  (and) Consultants in General

• The package is often one of the last things that a company introducing a product thinks about. Also, many packaging engineers obtained their positions by accident and do not know how a packaging system actually fits into the company—a consultant can help.

• Hire a consultant when temporary assistance is required—new business deadlines, short-term business problems, independent advice needed, searching for cost savings, etc.

• Do not hire a consultant if your needs are unclear or if your needs are long term. You may want to consider employing an expert on a retainer.

• Do not expect a consultant to fix a nonviable project.

• Determine the consultant's scope of work: Where will they work? On what specific project? When can they start and finish? What resources do they need? What results do they need to deliver to you? Be as specific as possible.

• Write your contract as specific as possible. Write work exclusions into the consultant's contract to help prevent other company departments from taking a consultant away while he or she is working on your project.

• Pay your bills on time—consultants will sometimes put a "pay by x date to receive a percentage discount."

• Keep consultants on track so they are doing what you need done, in the time frame you have both agreed upon.

• Know that most consultants will not take a job for work they are weak in—they will often point you to someone else. However, be prepared to release the consultant if they are not doing the work as expected; a release clause should also be written into the contract.

• Expect to pay a consultant from $120 to $250 per hour plus expenses.

• If you require global consultants, go to that specific country for specialists in those countries, or hire consultants that have experience in the other countries.

Jan Gates, principal sterile barrier (packaging) engineer, Abbott Vascular, offered the following recommendations when considering hiring a consultant, or working with consultants. Her comments are also applicable for those outside the pharmaceutical space seeking or using consultants. Her comments come from the January 28 MD&M (Medical Design & Manufacturing) West Conference in Anaheim, CA, and were reported on in the April 11, 2008 newsletter issue of Healthcare Packaging.

 
SOURCE: Packworld