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VIDEO OF THE WEEK
Based on the company’s ECSXIII platform, the all-electric injection molding machine design prioritizes particulate control and clean operation.
California Legislators Want to Ban Plastic Bags. Period.
A new bill in the state legislature would ban the use of all plastic bags in retail outlets that sell food.
There they go again. A trio of state lawmakers in California have introduced legislation to ban the use of plastic bags altogether by grocery stores and other outlets that sell food. At a press conference in Sacramento, CA, last week, Sen. Catherine Blakespear, D-Encinitas; Sen. Ben Allen, D-Santa Monica; and Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, D-Orinda; said it was time to “expand California’s single-use plastic bags ban to combat the state’s persistent plastic pollution problem,” according to a press release posted on Blakespear’s website.
SB 1053 and AB 2236 would eliminate the use of plastic film bags that are currently sold at the checkout stands of most grocery stores. In 2014, California passed SB 270, which placed a statewide ban on thin plastic single-use bags, which was upheld in a 2016 referendum. The law allowed shoppers to purchase a thicker plastic or paper bag for 10 cents, or to bring their own reusable bags.
A funny thing happened on the way to the recycling bin, though. As reported by the Los Angeles Times, the tonnage of plastic bags skyrocketed after passage of the law. By 2022, the tonnage of discarded plastic bags had risen by 47%. "Even accounting for an increase in the population, the number rose from 4.08 tons per 1,000 people in 2014 to 5.89 tons per 1,000 people in 2022," writes the Times, citing data from consumer advocacy group CALPIRG. The reason was that the law allowed thicker plastic bags, deemed reusable and recyclable, to be purchased by consumers. Many of them did not end up in the recycling stream.
“A decade ago, we were the first state to ban the thin throw-away bags, and two years ago we passed the first comprehensive single-use packaging law,” said Sen. Allen, who chairs the Senate Environmental Quality Committee. “We learned a lot in the years between those efforts, but since its conception, our bag ban policy has fallen behind those in other states. We can and must do better,” he is quoted as saying on Blakespear’s website.
The bill tightens standards for reusable bags and requires stores to provide 100% recycled paper bags or let consumers use reusable bags, said the press release.
If the bill passes the legislature, it will be up to Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign it into law. When he was mayor of San Francisco in 2007, he enacted the country’s first plastic bag ban.
The proposal is getting beaucoup love on X, but not everyone is buying it.
Sen. Brian Dahle, R-Bieber, also blasted the proposal in an appearance on WDBD Fox 40 in Jackson, MS. In a comment on X, he noted that “California has a massive budget deficit, soaring crime, highest in the nation utility rates, a housing crisis, and a failing educational system — we should be addressing those critical issues, not adding another item to ban in California.” During the interview on Fox 40, however, he added that there are aspects of the legislation he supports. “I love the use of paper bags,” he said, because the district he represents is heavily forested, and greater use of paper bags would help thin the forest and reduce fire risks, and “be a job creator in my district.”
Berry, Glatfelter to Create Global Specialty Materials Leader
Valued at $3.6 billion, the yet-unnamed company will be a merger of Berry Global's Health, Hygiene and Specialties Global Nonwovens and Films business with Glatfelter.
By Rick Lingle
2023 was a rocky year for packaging giant Berry Global. In February, the Evansville, IN, company’s CEO of 11 years, Tom Salmon, announced his retirement. In May, the company announced 15 plant closures. In August, it announced further plant closures shortly before the company introduced a new CEO, Kevin Kwilinski.
In September came the news that Berry Global would review “strategic alternatives” for its health and hygiene business.
On February 7 that strategic alternative was made clear when Berry Global Group, Inc. and Glatfelter Corp. based in Charlotte, NC, announced entering into a definitive agreement. Berry will spin-off and merge most of its Health, Hygiene and Specialties (HH&S) segment to include its Global Nonwovens and Films business (HHNF) with Glatfelter. This will create a publicly traded company in the growing specialty materials industry. The Boards of Directors of Berry and Glatfelter have unanimously approved the transaction.
Yet to be named, the newly combined company is positioned to serve the world’s largest brand owners across global end markets with favorable long-term growth dynamics. HHNF brings an extensive portfolio of proprietary technologies, with a strong focus on healthcare, hygiene, and specialty end markets, while Glatfelter provides a broad range of innovation capabilities and sustainability solutions.
The new company is valued at $3.6 billion. The expected completion timeframe for the transaction is the second half of 2024.
This combination will offer a highly complementary product suite, including both polymer-based and fiber-based solutions, supported by strong innovation capabilities, with significant geographic diversification and a presence in all major markets.
Berry’s remaining HH&S businesses including its tapes business, will be retained.
Sister publication Packaging Dive reported that about 60% of the new company’s revenue will be concentrated in the Americas, where 23 of 45 manufacturing facilities are located. It also reported that Berry and Glatfelter already overlap in markets such as laundry care, disinfecting wipes, and healthcare and surgical suite products.
The new combined company will have more than 1,000 customers, with a company presentation listing major CPG and healthcare customers including Clorox, P&G, Kimberly-Clark, Medline, Henkel and Reckitt, among others, Packaging Dive says.
In conjunction with the announcement, Berry will change the name of its Engineered Materials segment to Flexibles to showcase the continued evolution of this segment towards high-value products and solutions.
Berry, Glatfelter CEOs weigh in on the arrangement.
“This announcement is the culmination of a comprehensive review of strategic alternatives to determine the value-maximizing path forward for Berry shareholders,” says Berry Global CEO Kwilinski. “We believe these two businesses, in combination, can drive significant value for shareholders with complementary portfolios, positioning each for greater success. Following completion of the transaction, Berry will become a pure-play provider of innovative, sustainable global packaging solutions, which we believe will deliver even more predictable earnings growth for Berry shareholders. Additionally, we believe HHNF in combination with Glatfelter will thrive as an independent company that is positioned to drive long-term growth with its global brand-owner customers.”
"The uniting of our organizations creates a premier nonwovens supplier and a global leader in specialty materials, with the talent, technologies, scale, and footprint to deliver commercial and operational excellence, and a wide range of solutions for our customers,” says?Thomas Fahnemann?, Glatfelter's President and CEO. “Our combined company is scaled to accelerate innovation and leverage our intellectual property over a large worldwide commercial platform and is well positioned to deliver substantial shareholder value.”
For Berry, it brings much-welcomed stability to its portfolio and business plans.
Let’s Raise a Glass to Toby Keith, the Red Solo Cup, and Draft
You know you’re an engineer if you praise the draft in the red Solo cup, and you’re talking about its sloped design, not the contents.
领英推荐
Reports over the death of country music star Toby Keith almost always mention one of his most famous —?and silliest — songs: “Red Solo Cup.” Released in 2011, the song praises the beverage cup that is so common at large gatherings with large amounts of alcoholic drinks. The lyrics are mostly simple words with some longer ones thrown in to provide a false sense of sophistication. They include such high-brow couplets as:
Now red Solo cup is the best receptacle
for barbecues, tailgates, fairs, and festivals
Poetry that would bring a tear to the Bard’s eyes.
Drinking local before it was a thing
Besides consuming my share of beer in these cups, I had a closer connection to the “receptacles.” I went to grad school at the University of Illinois, located in the cities of Urbana and Champaign. Like many of my fellow students, we would comment about how much we loved the two cities, and how they would be a great place to stay and raise a family after we were done with school. The only wrinkle in that plan was the job opportunities, which were extremely limited. Beyond the university, the largest employers for engineering types were the Kraft Foods factory (which always had a funky stink surrounding it) and the Solo cup factory. I can’t confirm that this site was the only one manufacturing red Solo cups, but they were certainly made there. This, of course, means we were drinking local before everyone else did.
While researching this article, I found that the Solo factory was scheduled to close at the end of 2023. The company had been acquired by a competitor (Dart Container) in 2012 and the factory was closed as part of the consolidations that inevitably followed. So, in hindsight, not sticking around town was probably for the best. (Instead, I went to work for Hercules, which is no longer in business at all. That’s a great plan B you had there, John.)
There are lots of knockoff imitators, but Solo cups are made of polystyrene and come in multiple colors. Red is the one that has really captured the collective consciousness and become ubiquitous at large parties.
Using the red Solo cup as a teaching aid
I use red Solo cups for demonstrations in the CAD classes that I teach, as they are a nice example of an object with draft. (Hey! I’m talking about the sloped walls, not the liquid in the cup.) This leads to a discussion of why objects will have a draft, and why designers need to be concerned about the manufacturability of their designs. While draft has great benefits to the injection molding process, sometimes draft just looks nice.
With the Solo cup, however, adding draft is the “natural” choice. Hold your hand in a relaxed position and look at the curl of your fingers. The index finger curls the least and the pinkie the most, so that a cup with a draft wall will fit your hand nicer than one without. This can be overdone, and in fact, other cups made by Solo have overdone it. Those conical paper cups that are near water fountains are a great example. They have too much draft and really don’t fit a hand well. You’re always holding it just near the top instead of its entire length.
Toby Keith is gone, but the red Solo cup and his song will still be with us. My mind still reels from all of this. A mega-hit song about a single-use plastic. How is that possible?
PS: You may also be interested in this article from 2022: Throwback Thursday: When a Red Plastic Solo Cup Was Celebrated.
Plastic or Paper? A Nuanced Sustainability Story
A report from Rabobank considers the environmental repercussions of moving from plastic packaging to paper, and more.
A new report from Netherlands-based Rabobank highlights the trend of replacing plastic packaging with paper, reports on marine pollution and forever chemicals in packaging, and provides an update on plastic- and packaging-related legislation worldwide.
The report explains that “the sustainability of paper and pulp as a replacement for plastic may not be as straightforward as consumers perceive,” with cost, sustainability, and shelf-life concerns complicating the switch from plastic to paper.
Costs for pulp and paper packaging can be up to five times higher than plastic, the authors state, because more material and energy are required to create a sufficiently robust package.
Sustainability issues center on carbon footprint and end of life: Carbon emissions from paper production — including logging, pulping, and bleaching — often exceed emissions from plastics manufacturing. In addition, paper-based packaging can be difficult to compost or recycle if it contains protective coatings.
Additionally, paper-based packaging is not suitable for all consumer packaged goods (CPG). It’s inappropriate for perishable foods and those requiring barrier protection to extend shelf life.
CPG companies making the plastic-to-paper switch.
Despite the challenges, numerous global CPG companies have made the switch for at least some of their packaging. Amazon is making efforts in this direction, as well, using paper dunnage and, at one of its fulfillment centers, replacing plastic delivery packaging.
Among brand owners, Procter& Gamble switched to a paper bottle with a plastic liner for Lenor fabric conditioner and to a paper canister for Old Spice deodorant.
Nestlé switched to a recyclable paper wrapper for KitKat chocolate bars in Australia and did the same for Yes! snack bars.
Unilever has switched to paper packaging in product categories ranging from food to personal care. The company removed the outer layer of plastic from Ben & Jerry’s ice cream containers in the United States and removed 93% of plastic from Carte D’Or ice cream packaging.
L’Oréal has migrated away from plastic for some of its beauty and skincare brands, developing a paper bottle for Kiehl’s and paper-based tubes with reduced plastic for La Roche-Posay.
Plastic packaging and the environment.
The report also covers environmental concerns related to plastic packaging and waste, including marine pollution and remediation.
For example, “Companies like the Plastic Credit Exchange (PCX) and the Plastic Bank are spearheading a transformative movement” that cleans waterways, recycles recovered plastic waste, tracks disposal via blockchain, offers plastic credits to reduce/offset plastic pollution, and provides jobs, the report states.
The authors also provide a comprehensive overview of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), aka forever chemicals. PFAS resists staining, water, grease, and heat. Thus, the chemicals have been used in food packaging to improve barrier properties and boost shelf life.
Food packages that may contain PFAS include paper bags for baked goods, paperboard carry-out containers, microwave popcorn bags, molded-fiber containers, food wrappers, and fluorinated high-density polyethylene (HDPE) bottles.
The inability of PFAS to break down naturally in the environment and their adverse effects on human and animal health have led to PFAS restrictions and regulations, including a proposed ban on some 10,000 types of PFAS in the European Union (EU).
Sustainability legislation worldwide.
The report provides an update on packaging-sustainability legislation in the United States and the EU, including several bills currently in the US House of Representatives. These center on recycling infrastructure, plastic pollution from beverage containers and single-use plastics, and incentivizing use of recycled plastic.
Separately, the United Nations’ “zero draft” treaty on plastic pollution spells out the implications of the treaty for the plastics industry. The treaty aims, for example, to:
The report states: “The [UN’s] plastic pollution treaty is a significant development that has the potential to impact the plastics industry greatly” and draw worldwide attention to the problem of plastic pollution. “It is important for those in the plastics industry to be aware of these developments and their potential implications.”
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