We all need to embrace and practice sustainability in the packaging industry.
In the end, everyone has to rely on packaging to get products like food, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics to market.
Good packaging ensures products are safe and healthy for the public. Ensuring the product is safe to use by the end of predicted shelf life is very important.
The right packaging machinery is essential to meet the needs of consumers. Knowledge of materials and their performance is being studied today with more use of recycled materials. The industry wants faster speed, and the new materials are not there yet. The medical industry is going to have to be careful because of the stability of requirements for sterile barrier packaging, and validation of all devices ensuring they meet regulations and standards. It is going to be a "go back to school", or testing process, to ensure we do not compromise the products.
Numerous states have already debated packaging issues and now have EPR bills [Extended Producer Responsibility] in two states. Other states are addressing issues like recycled content mandates, labelling and toxic chemicals in packaging, with California leading the way.
The state of California is looking at passing the Recycling and Plastic Pollution Reduction Act. It would require all single -use plastic packaging and single-use plastic food ware be reusable, refillable, recyclable or compostable by 2030. This proposal would have imposed a one cent on every piece of plastic packaging sold into or out of the state of Florida.
In Florida, we have 14 incinerators burning all types of waste. The University of Florida Engineering department is introducing the Robust Regenerative Gasification project at future municipal dumps to produce Eco-Ethanol™. They are using this chemical to remake plastics. This ensures our products and foods can be sold with little fear of contaminating the state by being dumped into land fills and contaminating ground waters. Sustainability in the packaging industry needs intelligent thought and decisions be made in order to be successful.
