High profile target
Single use PET bottles are a high profile target of sustainability and source reduction efforts. Major producers are keenly focused on reducing packaging throughout the process, and specifically addressing the bottles themselves.
For example, in a recent interview Nelson Switzer, Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer for Nestlé Waters NA, provided some statistics:
- packaging = 41% of the Nestle Waters’ footprint (down from 49% in 2010)
- 60% reduction in plastic content in the 20+ years since 1994
- recently decreased overall material usage by 6% (includes elimination of corrugated pads)
- Arrowhead brand water bottles are now 50% recycled PET
These are impressive changes. And they’re the result of process improvements enabled by improving materials and machines.
What’s interesting is that each step along the way has changed the demands on the stretch wrapping equipment, and the evolution provides a good case study for how changes in up stream packaging needs to be accounted for in the stretch wrapping process. [Read more…] about Stretch Wrapping Bottled Water – PET Bottles, Source Reduction and Other Implications