Cheerio my packaging and sustainability friends!
By now I'm sure you've heard your fair share of Pack Expo wrap-ups. According to Pack Expo's post-show press release, about 45,000 attendees participated in this event, slightly over half comprised of booth personnel. With almost 7,000 attendees being listed "international," that leaves just about 16,000 non-exhibiting, domestic packaging professionals meandering around the convention center. And I swear, just about 15,000 of them were non-exhibiting suppliers! Call me crazy, but this show paled in comparison to our success at last year's Pack Expo in Las Vegas.
That being said, we did get some great exposure for our collaboration with ALGIX on the first-ever thermoformed sample of "algae-plastic." We were featured in Packaging Digest, Biobased Digest, Specialty Chem, and Biomass Magazine; additionally, the story is to run in four EU-based publications, neat!
I got to meet the CEO and CFO of ALGIX at the Show, the company that provided Dordan with the algae / PP sheet to convert via thermoforming. Both are super nice guys, and both articulated exciting new developments for ALGIX's innovative algae plastic technology. Such developments include interest by a major American retailer on the re-packaging of its private label insecticides and fertilizers with this algae / plastic blend. Because the contents of these products are coercive, "compostable" and "biodegradable" packaging materials have not been an option (consider shelf life). By taking a traditional resin, like PP, and blending it with algae, a bio-based yet enduring packaging option exists for those products that do not require transparency at retail. However, my contact at ALGIX did express concern over filling this algae plastic with liquid, as the majority of R&D has been regarding dry goods.
Additionally, while injection molded articles and now thermoformed products are potential market avenues for algae plastic, ALGIX management indicated interest in textile and industrial mulch film markets; that is, those markets that are currently dominated by low-grade, recycled plastics, which don’t have to conform to stringent performance specs due to the nature of application.
Also at the Show I met the CEO of U.S. Argonite Enterprises, the company that supplies “naturally renewable” calcium carbonate to its supply chain partners to produce a unique calcium carbonate / PP, PS etc. material. The sustainability advantage of this “annually renewable” calcium carbonate / resin blend is that it reduces the amount of fossil fuel based resin needed per application due to the incorporation of a mineral filler. It is essentially the same sustainability conception of algae plastic insofar as both materials are reducing the amount of virgin, fossil fuel based plastic consumed via mineral additives. While Dordan was unable to get a sample of this Oshenite material for inclusion in its 3rd Annual Bio Resin Show N Tell due to unforeseen delays concerning the grinding of the mineral, it is intended to be included for Dordan’s exhibit at the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas, January 8-11. Yippee!
Lastly, I met with representatives from OCTAL, the company that provided Dordan with the DPET sample for the Bio Resin Show N Tell. This material is fascinating in that through their innovative direct-to-sheet process, energy consumption is reduced 65% when compared with traditional PET production. The problem is, however, that this material has yet to be established for distribution in North America, at least at the scale that would be feasible for Dordan and our clients. According to my contacts at OCTAL, it is anticipated that N.A. distribution will be up and running in the next 3 years, making this high-performing and energy-efficient material an excellent options for those working towards their sustainable packaging goals.
The Association of Visual Packaging Manufacturers is an industry working group comprised of the majority of North American packaging converters, like thermoform packaging manufacturers and blister card manufacturers; most of our competitors are either on the Board or participate as members. At their annual meeting this year during Pack Expo, they invited me to present on similar content that I presented on at the SPE Thermoforming Division’s 21st Annual Meeting in Grand Rapids, MI; that is, how the industry must be proactive developing a grass-roots social media communication strategy that emphasizes the value of packaging in order to combat the misinformation that threatens the image of our industry. While the delivery was pretty rough, the message was delivered, and I was subsequently invited to join the AVPM Board, wowza!
Also while at the Show I got to slip away from my duties manning the booth to visit my friends at Ecovative. While they have recently licensed their protective packaging “growing” technology to Sealed Air so they can focus on being a material science company, Dordan continues to supply them with custom thermoformed grow trays for their custom products, like wine shippers, candles, surf boards, etc. In fact, Dordan will be displaying this continued partnership at the Consumer Electronics Show, which we are exhibiting at for the first time! Click here for the press release!
This is sort of silly but check out this video of Ecovative and I from Pack Expo 2010 and then this video of Sealed Air at Pack Expo 2012 re: Ecovative “growing” packaging out of thermoformed trays. They are the same...but different...
And, for your viewing pleasure, a photo of me and my brother / Dordan Sales Manager!
And, the lovely Chicago sky line!
Tootles!