Ref 1: London Bio Packaging (LBP): http://www.londonbiopackaging.com/
How many take away meals were consumed over the course of the 2012 Olympic Games?
14 million
How much waste to landfill were Olympics organisers expecting to have to go to landfill?
8.5 tons
How many pieces of packaging were needed for the games - and by supplying these what did LBF help the games achieve?
120 millions
Take a moment to look around their site.
See ‘Our services > closing the loop’.
- How many stages are there in their ‘closed loop’ system?
- What happens at each stage?
- Is this appropriate for this company? If ‘yes’ then please explain why you think so.
Look even further around their site. LBP use a wide range of materials.. See About Our Products > Packaging Materials:
- What are ‘Bioplastics’?
"These are plastics made from plants. Bio-plastics behave in a similar way to conventional plastics and are suitable for most packaging applications. However, unlike finite oil based plastics which take millions of years to form and hundreds of years to degrade, they are annually renewable and suitable for commercial compost (nature’s way of recycling) within 12 weeks where facilities exist. The carbon footprint of Bio-plastic is therefore much lower than traditional petroleum based plastics. "
- Look at the other materials LBP use. Could you order these in terms of ‘most sustainable’, explain why you’ve ordered them like this on your post.
What is PSM and what are it’s key properties? Why is this useful?
plant starch
Plant Starch Material (PSM) is a flexible bio based packaging material which has not been refined into a bio-plastic. It is made from renewable crops like corn or potatoes. PSM is heat resistant making it particularly suitable for hot food applications and ideal for bio disposable cutlery.
What is sugar bagasse and how might it be turned into packaging?
sugar bagase
The waste material produced once sugar cane has been harvested for the sugar syrup is called bagasse. Sugar bagasse is turned into packaging products from its raw form using a process of heating, pulping and then pressurised moulding. These are heat resistant and microwaveable making them ideal as hot food containers and best of all, naturally compostable.
recycled plastic
rPET (recycled polyethylene terephthalate) is the most common plastic that is being recycled back into primary applications (i.e. bottles recycled back into bottles and not ‘down-cycled’ into lesser products like park furniture).
recycled paper
Recycled paper products contribute to the diversion of material from landfill and results in less land being given over to commercial forestry which can have a negative impact on biodiversity.
Sustainable forest paper ensures that the forests from which the paper comes and managed so as not destroy the forest, to promote biodiversity and protect any indigenous peoples.
forest wood
palm leaf
These products are natural, compostable and biodegradable. They are very stylish, tough and heat resistant.
Wholeleaf products have no pulp, no starch, just a washed and pressed leaf. The palm leaf itself varies in thickness from 2 to 4mm, as well as in colour and pattern, so you will find that they vary in thickness, colour and pattern too.
Ref 2: WRAP: http://www.wrap.org.uk/
First watch this short video from Wrap:
Back to their website - Who are Wrap? Describe what they do in a paragraph.
WRAP's vision is a world in which resources are used sustainably.
"WRAP works with governments, businesses and communities to deliver practical solutions to improve resource efficiency.
Their mission is to accelerate the move to a sustainable, resource-efficient economy by:
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re-inventing how we design, produce and sell products,
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re-thinking how we use and consume products, and
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re-defining what is possible through re-use and recycling "
What commercial sectors do they deal with and ‘why’?
WRAP’s consumer campaign, Love Food Hate Waste, helps raise awareness of the issue of food waste and offers easy ways for individuals to reduce the amount of food they throw away. Since its launch consumers have saved £13 billion by not buying food that would otherwise go to waste.
Wrap's research show that avoidable household food waste has been cut by an impressive 21% since 2007, saving UK consumers almost £13 billion over the five years to 2012. However, UK households are still throwing away 4.2 million tonnes of avoidable household food and drink annually; the equivalent of six meals every week for the average UK household.
Waste food can be turned into biogas, which can be used to generate electricity and heat. WRAP provides technical support to local authorities wishing to introduce separate collections of food waste or review the effectiveness of existing food waste collection services. 11 million households now have access to a food waste collection service.
Do they deal with the idea of a circular economy? If ‘yes’ how do they aim to tally with these ideas?
What are Wrap’s 3x key priority areas and what do they aim to do in these?
Download the excellent ‘Packguide: A guide to Packaging Eco Design’ at:
http://www.wrap.org.uk/sites/files/wrap/GG908_final_linked.pdf
Now take 10mins to look the guide through – there’s LOADS of good background refs in here!
Look at section 4: Design for Re-Use, Recycling and Recovery.
- Describe 3 key considerations within ‘design for re-use’.
- Describe 3 key considerations within ‘design for recycling’.
- Describe how effective Metal, Glass, Paper and Board and Plastics are and which (in your eyes) of these may achieve the ‘most effective’ award for recyclability.
click on image to see the catalogue
click on image to see the website
