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Chipping In, continued from preceding page added that it could be the most important challenge that business, especially consumer brands, needs to face up to. “Business needs to provide a lead to show consumers that a different approach to consumption can be simple and exciting,” he maintained. “We are engaged in a multitude of pilots and projects around the globe. Players all along the value chain are starting to rethink how they do business and what their impacts are.” Barry added that the past few decades had been characterized by “business inertia, denial and half-hearted searches for solutions.” Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF), a non-profit “We have a business as well as a moral imperative to shift the organization that uses proceeds from the offset sales to fund basic model of consumption rather than defend the excesses of the environmental education, to expand the use of renewable energy, current approach,” he argued. and for projects like restoration of watersheds. Since the 1980s, when SafeWorld International, Inc. began At SafeWorld’s factory and office, all plastic, paper, metal and to develop and market pistol grip spray can tool CAN-GUN, it glass that is capable of being recycled is processed, and all new has chosen to make the product entirely out of 100% non-toxic, office papers and shipping/packaging materials have as high a recycled plastic, according to the company. Beginning in the percentage of recycled content as possible. 1990s, SafeWorld chose to reduce the size of the original CAN- GUN’s header card by 50%. This effort translated into direct Looking forward resource savings, reduced freight costs and a decrease in the According to EIERA, recycling in the U.S. has changed company’s carbon footprint. It further reduced its carbon footprint dramatically over the course of the last two decades from an by locating all manufacturing to the Midwest, due to its centralized industry driven largely by public policy to one governed by the shipping location and proximity to materials suppliers. needs of the market. As a result, the industry has expanded into a Today, the newly-released, patent pending, U.S.-made $235 billion market that creates a large number of jobs. Successful CANGUN1 has a recyclable, space-saving header card held in market development is a balance between identifying the needs of place by attachment points within the CANGUN1’s body. As a the current manufacturing base and encouraging other businesses result, it incorporates Zero-Waste packaging, eliminating all non- to employ recycled feedstock instead of virgin resources. essential packaging materials. Both the original CAN-GUN and Stimulating demand for recovered materials requires goal- CANGUN1 are made from non-toxic, recycled #5 polypropylene setting, long-term commitment, adopting achievable metrics and (100% and 77.3% respectively). The rugged material shows knowledge of industry trends. Methods of accomplishing this resistance to all known chemicals and an ability to maintain all vary widely from state to state, but many components to market other beneficial properties over time, according to the company. development remain consistent nationwide. In 2010, SafeWorld initiated 100% carbon neutral shipment Partnership with economic development agencies to attract new via the services of GreenShipping.com and its offset partner business and support the goals of existing businesses appears to be one of the keys to successful intrastate market development. Likewise, developing regional communication channels with other state agencies, universities, regional commissions, nonprofit groups and private enterprises uncovers opportunities and symbiotic linkages that may not exist within an individual state (see The Can Conundrum, p. 22). SPRAY Packaging Design Guide now available PAC NEXT, an initiative of The Packaging Association (PAC) launched its sixth project, the development of a Packaging Design Guide, in collaboration with the Virginia-based Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC) and the Quebec- based Éco Entreprises Québec (EEQ). The interactive design guide will be based on a common language, definitions and approach for packaging innovation and optimization. Three critical initiatives will be the foundation of the design guide including the Global Protocol on Packaging Sustainability from the Paris-based Consumer Goods Forum; the Design Guidelines for Sustainable Packaging from SPC; and the Voluntary Code for the Optimization of The Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, FL has placed specialty containers all over campus for the collection of aerosols, batteries and books, Containers, Packaging and Printed Matter from the ÉEQ. in addition to the more traditional recyclables such as paper, plastic, metal and glass. Photo courtesy of Florida Institute of Technology. 20 SPRAY December 2012


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