Thursday, July 8, 2010
According to the “Nielsen Homescan Survey,” from the Nielsen Company, 43% of UK consumers try to buy ethical or environmentally friendly products—a percentage virtually unchanged from when the question was asked in 2007.
However, the types of products consumers actively seek out have changed significantly. The largest change is in the percentage of consumers who buy energy-efficient appliances and products—up 21% from 2007.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
A debate is currently raging in the food packaging industry over the safety of bisphenol A, known as BPA, an element in the lining of many canned goods.
Chemical manufacturing and packaging companies claim BPA is not only safe, it is necessary to protect food from metal can corrosion and bacterial contamination. On the other hand, health professionals and environmental advocates argue that scientific studies have uncovered health issues associated with BPA exposure.
The “No Silver Lining” report, released by the Michigan-based Ecology Center and the National Work Group for Safe Markets, a coalition of public health and environmental health groups, comes down firmly on the con side of the can debate.
Testing cans of food from 19 US states and one Canadian province, researchers detected BPA in 46, or 92%, of the canned food sampled.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Packaging in the UK is becoming greener and leaner, according to the “Packaging and the Environment 2010,” report released by Packaging News.
The most common technique manufacturers use to make packaging more environmentally friendly is lightweighting—reducing the weight of a package by decreasing the amount of material used.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Full Release: Duane Reade “Schlep” Survey Reveals 87% Own an Eco-Tote or Reusable Shopping Bag, Yet Make Extra Trips to the Store
Monday, April 19, 2010
In February, eMarketerGreen covered the introduction of the five-cent bag tax in Washington DC (see Does Anyone Use Reusable Bags?). The results have been nothing short of astounding.
Based on numbers released by the Washington Post, in the months prior to the tax—on average—22.5 million bags were used each month. In January 2010, the first month after implementation, only 3 million bags were handed out.
That equates to an 87% reduction in plastic bag use.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Coca-Cola’s use of plant-based bottles at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver put a global spotlight on the latest in eco-friendly packaging—bioplastics.
The European Bioplastics trade association estimates production of the new material, currently at 568,000 metric tons worldwide, will increase to 1.5 million metric tons by 2013.
Monday, February 22, 2010
According to a poll by the Yale Project on Climate Change and the George Mason University Center on Climate Change Communication, while nearly one-half of US consumers believe using reusable bags is important—they don’t actually use them.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Packaging is a top environmental concern of consumers. The “2010 BrandSpark American Shopper Survey,” from Better Homes and Gardens, found 75% of them believe manufacturers have a long way to go to reduce the amount of packaging on products.
According to “The State of Green Business 2010″ report, published by Greenbiz.com, packaging intensity (a measure of material used compared to GDP) in the US decreased from 2004 to 2008.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Not only is the green packaging market growing faster than the packaging industry as a whole—it is projected to nearly double in size over the next five years.
According to the “Sustainable Packaging” report from Pike Research, worldwide eco-friendly packaging revenues will increase from $88 billion in 2009 to $170 billion in 2014.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Japanese consumers are willing to make sacrifices to live in a zero-waste society according to a study by the Cabinet Office of Japan. The survey found that 53% of consumers would transition to a zero-waste society—even if it meant a reduced standard of living.
To reduce waste Japanese cited point of purchase decisions that resulted in less trash from packaging.
The percent of consumers avoiding plastic shopping bags is up 30.1 percentage points from 2005, the last time the survey was conducted.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Examining trash in public places and the littering behavior of US consumers, the “Litter in America” report, from the non-profit organization Keep America Beautiful (KAB), found that packaging materials make up 60% of all “litter of interest,” which includes the categories in the chart below and accounts for 80% of all litter along roadways.
Cigarette butts were the most abundant of all litter, but of visible “litter of interest” (4 inches and larger)—fast food packaging was most prevalent.
