Packaging News You Can Use

Plastic to glass, paper to plastic and so on. Let the packaging wars begin as each material tries to claim it’s the best most economical and good for the environment. It’s impossible to conclude that there is one best material for every application.

Here are some recent competing statements:

FEVE – the EU association for container glass – declared that glass was the most eco-friendly packing material as it released figures showing that the 25.5 billion containers collected for recycling in 2008 represented “an average recycling rate of 65 per cent for the EU27 countries”.

“Coca-Cola Great Britain teamed up with the Carbon Trust to determine the greenhouse gas emissions involved in the life cycle of glass, metal and plastic packaging, and found that the carbon footprint of glass packaging is more than double the impact of using aluminum cans.”

See what I mean!

As a further example look at the “bottled water” wars where everyone claims theirs is the best package for the environment. You will see water packaged in all the primary packaging materials as everyone clamors for improved market share or a competitive advantage.

Paper And Paperboard Water Bottles

The PaperBottle is made from molded pulp is not yet commercial viable but has many potential applications. BoxedWater is a real product and is really like a milk carton.

Eco-friendly Plastic Options

If plastic is bad for the environment is the PlantBottle truly green or just another marketing gimmick?

A plastic bottle made from plants – up to 30 per cent organic material to start. Coke is trying to do its part to reduce plastic consumption for its bottles.

Less Overall Plastic Options

GlacierPak takes up considerably less space in landfills, the primary complain against traditional bottled water. But still it’s packaging to dispose of even though it does reduce the amount of waste. So is this “really” an eco packaging solution?

Via SustainableIsGood.com

Water In Composite Paperboard Solutions Considered More Eco-Friendly

Plant It Water cartons are sustainable alternatives to disposable plastic bottles.

No wonder consumers are confused by eco-friendly packaging options

And I haven’t even covered the refillable options. It seems clear from these very different examples that everyone has a different opinion which packaging is best. So just take water as an example in off the wall and out of the box thinking in developing your product packaging. Your packaging can be any material as long as you back it up with consumer wants and needs. Let the best packaging material win!

Packaging Phrases To Watch For In 2010:

• Eco-Friendly
• Virgin Materials
• Alternative Packaging
• LifeCycle
• Paper
• Plastic
• Glass
• PlantBottle
• PaperBottle
• Molded Pulp
• BoxedWater
• Material Of Choice

Tags: Alternative Packaging, Aluminum, BoxedWater, eco friendly, glass, LifeCycle, Material Of Choice, Molded Pulp, packaging, Paper, PaperBottle, plantbottle, Plastic, Virgin Materials

With all the new beverages out there and all the interested in whether water should be bottled or not and what do you do with it when it is, I decided to focus on water bottle packaging innovation and design this month.

Whether you like your water bottled or not you have to admit there is some great creative design at work here.

Shape:

Let’s first focus on shape. How awesome are these packaging designs?

I would buy them just for the shapes of the bottles themselves.

Does Shape Sell?

If it makes your brand stand out from the competitors in a sea of same ness YOU BET!

Designed by Ora-Ito | Country: France (via lovelypackage.com)

Designed by Pedrita | Country: Portugal (via lovelypackage.com)

Green or Eco ?

Is the PlantBottle truly green or just another marketing gimmick?

A plastic bottle made from plants – up to 30 per cent organic material to start. Coke is trying to do its part to reduce plastic consumption for its bottles. It remains to be seen whether this will become integrated though out all its operations.

Functionality:

Can you build a better mousetrap? Wal-Mart thinks you can. They redesigned the average milk jug and made it square allowing more units at retail and better cub utilization for shipping and transportation thus saving costs.

Now we have square water containers. Best in space utilization. But just like the Wal-Mart bottle very difficult to pour.

I am not sure at all about the “usability” of this design, its’ aesthetically pleasing but how much water will it really hold in this big bottle? And will it be easy to use? You can purify any tap water with the plunger in the bottle

Lastly Back To Basics:

This bottle look familiar? It should it was a packaging mainstay for years.

Tap Water™ Courtesy thedieline.com

The important lesson to be learned, whether it is plastic or glass, eco or not, user friendly or just more efficient packaging design and innovation. For even the simplest product creativity can influence our decision whether we purchase a product or not.

Tags: branding, consumer, packaging design, packaging innovation, plantbottle, water bottle