US District Judge lifts Block on NY bottle deposit law

On August 13th Judge Deborah Batts (Southern District of New York) modified the preliminary injunction order granted on May 29th to the International Bottled Water Association and other plaintiffs that has been preventing the state of NY from implementing all provisions of the recently enacted bottle bill amendments. (NY BIll S59 & A159)

The expanded bottle bill would have required a nickel deposit on other beverages including bottled water, beer and would require beverage companies to forfeit 80% of unclaimed deposits according to the statement issued by NY Attorney General Andrew Coumo.

The bill was supposed to take effect on June 1, but was pushed back to April 2010 by U.S. District Judge Thomas Griesa.

However, Judge Batts ruled on Thursday August 13th that most provisions could take effect immediately which means that soda and beer companies will have to begin returning the bulk of unclaimed deposits to NY State. How much money are we talking about? According to Cuomo, the sum will be over $100 million in new revenue for the cash-strapped state.

Water companies, will have until October 22 to comply. Consumption of bottled water has risen to roughly 3.2 billion bottles according to Laura Haight, senior environmental associate for the New York Public Interest Research Group, the organization that has been fighting for this law.

The bigger issue and major sticking point for the law has been the labeling rule that would require NYS specific UPC codes for bottles sold locally in NY. Having to do so would effectively require distributors to have multiple inventories of beverages, those sold in NY and those sold in the other 49 states. The packaging and warehousing nightmare to comply with this law is staggering (to me) and when you add that many of the beverages sold in eastern NY Come from distribution centers in CT or even western Mass, the complication is enormous.

Each beverage would have to have a New York variety. So this would effectively double the packaging used for each flavor; labels, 4 or 6 packs, cans, 12 packs, variety packs, cases, etc. This includes costs to design, prepare, produce and ship packaging. Not only that, if you had a production run you would have to predict case sales by market and break down the line twice to change the packaging. (NY - Non-NY) then warehouse it.

I suggest a simpler solution where the UPC remains the same and the deposit language changes on the affected packaging. I would also suggest that first year, NY forgives the packaging changeover by letting beverage companies keep a percentage of the collected deposit money to recover costs. What do you think?

The latest on Bisphenol A

I've been following the BPA debate for awhile now and it looks like California is not going to place BPA on their list of hazardous substances. They are also not going to be warning consumers: (those without internet, I guess) Health Canada, however is studying the effects of BPA on babies focusing on the coatings used on metal lids used for glass baby food containers. According to the study the levels found were quite low, like an average level of .18 ng/gram. By the way, a nanogram is one billionth (10^-9) of a gram. France is looking to completely ban the chemical in consumer packaging. (There is a login to read the article)

The Boston Globe last Tuesday published a story warning parents to avoid bottles with BPA as posing a danger for children.

Meanwhile, just when you thought you were safe, BPA Free labels may not be true according to this story. I guess you can't believe anything that you read.

The FDA maintains that the chemical is safe. Studies are starting to vet out that food and beverage containers made of polycarbonate do not pose a health risk to humans.

Banning the chemical based on current studies would be a hardship for the packaging & food industries that use the chemical. Whole Foods Market has a BPA policy and is working towards limiting and removing the chemical where they are able.

So the debate continues and so does the confusion. Consumers are going to have to avoid buying processed & prepackaged food; It is nearly impossible to avoid this chemical in the market place.

Big News!! I'm the Cover Feature in Flexo Magazine!

This month I am extremely proud to announce that Flexo magazine not only published my article called: Press Approvals from the CPC Perspective they even put me on the cover of the July Issue. Flexo magazine is the Flexographic Technology Source and the official journal of the Flexographic Technical Association. They have been covering my career for a few years now since they did an article in Feb 2007 about me when I was still with Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages. Please let me know what you think of my article!

Packaging Sustainability at 2009 EastPack show

I attended the Eastpack show on June 9th - 11th in NYC again and if you have been following my blog, I go to these shows to collect various examples of sustainability initiatives that I see when walking the floor. Some of the claims that I see are dubious and some seem more rooted in science & good manufacturing practices. The simple fact is that at this point, most companies have at least some kind of sustainability statement. I have not been paid to endorse the companies below.

The EastPack show this year featured a Green Manufacturing Expo sponsored by Design World Magazine. The pamphlet handed out features about 130 attending suppliers that have "identified themselves as offering energy efficient and/or Sustainable products or services." on the floor these vendors were further identified by a placard that said they were "Green".

Since I don't have the time or ability to verify any of their claims, I will just leave you on your own here, if you decide to use them for their environmental claims, make sure you get them to back it up with documentation & proof.

The most interesting product I saw was an odd-looking material displayed by ecovative called Greensulate & Ecocradle which is an alternative to foams and plastic internal shipping material and is made with natural composts & inert fungus. It is really compostable and looks different. The only possible negative to me is that it felt a lot heavier than the synthetics it's replacing which may affect shipping costs.

AM Packaging Incorporated, a litho box printing & packaging company has added a new very efficient printing press called a Komori Corp. Lithrone S 40P 8 color plus coater. With integral Computer-to-plate (CTP) technology & one-step register set up is reduced ten-fold. How is this possible? the plates are processed right on the press for nearly perfect fit. I have seen this technology and it works. Furthermore, AM claims that the press has reduced noise, energy & chemical consumption. These are all good reasons to invest in the latest technology and the fact that AM has found a creative way to promote the new equipment sets an example of how to market new technologies. Also new presses have the benefit of printing higher quality packaging.

I have been watching Bedford Industries for a couple of years now and they make a great product. It's an elastic hang tag that's becoming quite popular called Elastitag. The thing that makes these tags great is that they have an elastic band at the top which means that the tag itself can be used to hold together the product and eliminate the packaging altogether. (Think about using them to hold & identify a bunch of brocccoli) It has a die cut elastic band at the top and can be die-cut in almost any configuration and the tag itself can be a coupon book. I'm starting to see them everywhere I shop.

CWS Contract Packaging is a certified organic service to the food, retail and pharma markets. They are a socially conscious not-for-profit 501(c)(3) entity who provides co-packing using a diversified blend of community & dev. disabled workforce. They also offer PLA, RPETG & RPET packaging solutions. You can debate the merits of the new plastic solutions, but I think it is important to utilize community services like CWS, located in Norwich, NY.

Tucker Printers, a network of offset, digital printing, packaging & fulfillment companies now owned by Consolidated Graphics, claims in their hand-out to be, Powered by Wind Energy, Rainforest Alliance Certified, a member of the Forrest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the hand-out was printed with soy based ink. While I applaud that they have taken a stand for sustainability, I think it is really important to go the extra distance in their sales material to qualify what goals they have set and achieved such as, 45% of our power comes from wind, etc. Tucker Printers is located in Henrietta, NY.

XelaPack in Saline, MI has a product that I think is the future for many packaged goods that you now see in rigid bottles & tubes. They produce and co-pack a line of stock & custom paper stand-up packages with tear-off tops. Starting out as simple sample packages for hotels & spa's, their product line and fill weight has grown to include pharmaceuticals, beverages, & powders. According to their literature, the amount of packaging reduction is stunning. Something in the range of 93% less plastic when compared to similar sized bottles & tubes. Shipping reduction is also huge. As an added bonus, the entire package can be decorated. If you have an innovative new product, consider this package.

Ekan Concepts Inc. in Ontario, makes a cool premium wooden display box manufactured out of high quality veneers with different laser-etched or labelled decoration possibilities. I'm not sure how sustainable they really are as a company, but their product is made from 100% wood.

CardPack, a leader in custom engineered carded packaging designs located in Solon, OH, was passing out a nice folder which contained environmental printing awards from PrintAction, the Packaging Assoc. of Canada, the paperboard packaging Council as well as reprints from Brand Packaging & Green Packaging Magazines. Two of their products are called ClubPack & SustainPak are alternatives to clam-shell packaging. You can read more on their website, but the thing that stands out to me is their combination run printing service which I have never seen before publicly offered. Simply stated, they gang up your low-volume print job with other companies jobs on the same press set-up in gang quantities.

The disadvantage of this kind of printing might be that you get the color you get, but with computer to plate technologies, it's probably not a problem. This has to be one of the biggest behind the scene material wasters. Setting up all of these jobs on the same sheet has to offer amazing savings as opposed to having each job run separately. This is something that any printer could do.

Finally, for reference, at the show, I met with some folks from the Toxics in Packaging Clearinghouse (TPCH ormerly CONEG) made up of different State Environmental Agencies who were passing out literature such as QA considerations for Toxics in Packaging and Toxics in Packaging Fact Sheet. These interesting (to me!) documents outline what different states are doing and going to do to regulate toxics in packaging. If you produce, make or buy packaging you must be well-read in this area. These are the people that set the bar in states that have packaging laws.

More News about Bisphenol A (BPA)

BPA was in the news again this week for a marketing campaign they were about to launch to better sell in this highly scrutinized chemical used in plastic bottle and aluminum can manufacture. (as part of an internal epoxy coating) This article from written by Beth Daley in the Boston Globe, outlines the problem in detail. Also This article in the Effect Measure Forum has several excellent links to get you up to speed on the issue.

According to these verified, leaked minutes, the industry met in Washington, DC on May 28th to discuss tactics to better sell the chemical to the public by, of all things, using a pregnant woman as a spokesperson instead of a scientist because, "A pregnant woman would be "the holy grail" to serve as a spokeswoman, the memo says. Attendees said they doubted they could find a scientist to serve as a spokesman for BPA."

Attending Companies were: Coca-Cola, Alcoa, Crown, North American Metal Packaging Alliance, Inc., Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), American Chemistry Council, and Del Monte.

From the LA Times, All eyes are going to be on California as they are going to have a state EPA hearing next month on the subject that will affect Prop 65 in which the Governor will have to publish a list annually of the chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity.

My thoughts are this issue has been poorly handled by all involved there are clearly studies that support the removal of this chemical from packaging or food contact as much as possible. The industries involved, are working hard to come up with alternative chemicals, but they won't be easy or cheap. Should the chemical be banned? Yes, until the science supports it's use in the future.

I'm reminded by the applied ceramic label (ACL) - Lead decoration issue that came up several years ago in the glass industry or the more recent lead in toys policies. Can BPA be compared to the dangers of lead to children? No, the science doesn't support that but guess what, the public doesn't understand or care about that.

This is going to have a great impact on packaging in the short future if California, New York and Connecticut place bans on the chemical and this is what these companies fear the most. This egg-on-your-face memo has not helped the industry or the issue and is only going to accelerate the legislated removal.

ShelfImpact puts on successful Package Design Workshop in Tarrytown, NY

I had a chance on Wednesday to attend one of ShelfImpacts! Package design workshop given by Jim George, Editor-in-Chief and Jim Chrzan, Publisher of ShelfImpact Magazine which is an e-mag and print supplement to Packaging World Magazine.I have to give them high marks for giving an informative and entertaining seminar. 

The "Jims"  traded places often while talking about US trends that affect packaging, consumer buying habits, creating value and talked about key emerging trends. The audience was engaged with a couple of fun quizzes and we broke into smaller groups and got to suggest packaging strategies for a wine company and got to evaluate packages from around the world.  The full program is here.

There was also a larger discussion of sustainability and how it relates to packaging.

TricorBraun, a full service design/engineering & global sourcing company was the local sponsor and their representative, Don Forbes spoke of & showed a short video about their capabilities. 

All-in-all this event was worth my time & the $425 cost and I would highly recommend catching one of their presentations, there are only two dates left, June 17 in Chicago and October 21st in Cinncinnati. here is a link directly to their workshop. 

More detail on the Expanded New York Bottle Bill with important links

I've been doing a little more research and here is some more info. The bill was spearheaded by the New York Public Interest Research Group. There is news lately that the application of the rules will have to delay implementation which was slated for June 1, 2009. Why is this? First, according to the Returnable Container Act, all beverages under a gallon that are sold in NY will have to have a unique UPC code for the bottles to be recycled by Reverse Vending machines that are going to be required if you are a grocer with a store over 40,000 square feet.

Stores will also have to post a prominent sign with the "New York Bottle Bill of Rights"

The bigger issue is that the beverage companies will have to change all of their UPC's to make specific NY UPC codes and set up a distribution system that supports selling the unique NY SKU's. This is going to double the amount of packaging that will be required if you want to sell beverages: NY and non-NY. The labeling will have to include any secondary packaging or cases because the UPC GTIN affects the other units. So beverage companies will have to dual-inventory everything. The transition for these kinds of things takes about a year when you take into consideration art & label production, material, stock and then selling through existing product. 

The other thing that is vague is how will the consumer be able to tell if the beverage they are buying is approved for sale in NY. I am certain that this fact and the loss of 80% of the no collected refund money will cause some beverage companies to pull out of NY all together, but no one has made that move publicly. 

NY Passes expanded Bottle Bill

This has been coming for a long time and I applaud my home state for passing an expanded bottle bill in the 2009-10 budget that includes water bottles and will not only help the environment, but it will boost the economy by requiring that beverage companies return to the state 80%  of unclaimed bottle & can deposits to the state. This could add up to over $100 million in revenue for the state. 

A side issue will be more work for redeemers, designers and printers who will have to print new labels with updated graphics with the new refund copy. I am trying to find out what the labelling requirements will be & timing for packaging. My personal opinion is that the bill should be expanded further to include all packaging in other categories as well or be based soley on container material. Environmental Advocates of NY

Spectrophotometer is the word

Here is a press release that I just did for a packaging service that I am going to offer. I invested in an X-Rite spectrophotometer because it is the ultimate prepress gadget and also takes some of the subjectivity out of doing color matches. The companies that really care about color (like Coca Cola) use these when they go on press so I thought that smaller companies can benefit from the technology too. You just can't blindly use it, but to be able to tell the pressman that the ink in the press will never make the standard on the first color pull is huge in my opinion. Let me know what you think.


CARMEL, NY, March 17, 2009 – Barry Sanel, a respected printing and packaging solutions executive with over 20 years of industry experience, announces customer press approval services uniquely geared towards the Flexographic Industry using X-Rite’s new SpectroEye spectrophotometer color management tool.
Consumer product companies (CPCs), now more than ever, are looking for flexo printers to be able to match ink standards set by offset litho or rotogravure printing. Barry Sanel Packaging Advisors can now establish quickly and easily if a mixed or process color will ever match the standard at any density after the first press-pull.
By using X-Rites best-match feature, the color hue can be matched more closely to the standard across different processes and substrates; such as flexible package printing, paper or pressure sensitive label, preprint & direct print corrugate, metal & plastic closure and foil printing.

“This is a critical step when trying to achieve a consistent look across the many different kinds of packaging a brand may use,” Sanel noted.

Many times, the brand manager while on press is challenged by hitting color targets and has to labor through hours of press-pulls. The printer also suffers with lost productivity. This service removes subjectivity, cut hours out of the press approval process and provides high quality feedback to both the printer and the customer.

How this service works:
Barry Sanel Packaging Advisors will attend your first press run, with or without your customer present and validate the color on press until the closest match possible is made to the approved standard. A comprehensive report will be provided detailing each press-pull until the print standard is achieved. When requested, we can communicate the match in any colorimetry standard such as: CIE L*a*b*, E* CIELAB (delta-E) etc. . .

"In my years within the packaging industry, I have seen many print jobs go over budget or get delayed because of color matching trial and error. My service eliminates this guesswork.”

Barry Sanel Packaging Advisors is located in the New York City suburb of Carmel, NY. Contact Barry at 845-228-5556 or barry@barrysanel.com.

Top Ten Myths about Sustainability

Recently, Scientific American posted an interesting and well written article on the Top Ten Myths about Sustainability written by senior science writer Michael D. Lemonick.  

As people who create and sell packaging it is important to not sell our products as being "Sustainable" Which Mr. Lemonick points out at the beginning of the article,  "The word has devolved into a meaningless cliché, or it has real conceptual heft. “Green” (or, even worse, “going green”) falls squarely into the first category. But “sustainable,” which at first conjures up a similarly vague sense of environmental virtue, actually belongs in the second." 

The point to be made as it relates to packaging is that no amount of packaging reduction is going to save the environment or the earth as long as the goal is to increase sales. Packaging, at best, along with cars and energy can only continue to be made more efficient to a degree and as he points out is not an easy concept to wrap a consumers head around.