I’m not sure about this one, I suppose it depends on what shade of colour recycled mixed glass would give.  I mean a jar of white mayo could look a little unappetising in a light shade of greeny/brown.  Until the bottles/jars arrived how would you know if your design will work with it.  See what you think.

By Mike Stones, 11-Sep-2009  www.foodproductiondaily.com

Retailer demand for recycled glass could rocket after new UK research commissioned by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP).

The study, conducted in partnership with Sainbury’s, found that consumers are just as likely to buy products in jars and bottles made from mixed colour recycled glass as they are to buy items in clear glass packaging.

via New research promises breakthrough for recycled glass.

Jill Park, packagingnews.co.uk, 18 August 2009

Tesco milk packs are to feature a carbon label as the retailer moves closer to its target of footprinting 500 products by the end of the year.

via Tesco carbon footprints milk | packagingnews.co.uk.

Jill Park, packagingnews.co.uk, 17 August 2009

Diageo has entered into a legal battle with Sainsbury’s over alleged copyright infringement of its Pimm’s brand.  The legal action will determine whether Sainsbury’s new gin-based drink Pitchers, which it encourages customers to drink with fruit and lemonade, is a copy of Diageo’s Pimm’s.

It will be interesting to see how this claim proceeds, the packs are ’similar’ but not as close as others I’ve seen.  Check out the pictures here and see the full article. http://bit.ly/18FLF4

Simeon Goldstein, packagingnews.co.uk, 04 August 2009

Tesco has hit back at The Times newspaper’s criticism of its efforts to use less carrier bags, a day after it revealed it had stopped sending waste to landfill.

via Tesco defends carrier bag reduction figures | packagingnews.co.uk.

Chloe Smith, thegrocer.co.uk 31/07/2009

Asda will challenge big-name brands to follow its lead by slashing packaging by up to a third this autumn.

Following a drive to cut own-label packaging by 25%, which resulted in a saving of £10m, chief merchandising officer Darren Blackhurst said he would be asking brand owners to follow suit at Asda’s supplier conference later this year.

via Asda cuts packaging and challenges suppliers to follow suit | thegrocer.co.uk.

Well it looks as though Walmart is keeping up the pressure on the industry to improve its environmental performance, which is not a bad thing if it helps saves the planet and makes everyone in the supply chain more aware of their responsibilities.  Walmart announced they will be asking their suppliers 15 simple questions (see below) about how they produced the product and packaging. The questions fall into 4 categories:

• Energy and Climate: Reducing Energy Costs and Greenhouse Gas Emissions
• Material Efficiency: Reducing Waste and Enhancing Quality
• Natural Resources: Producing High Quality, Responsibly Sourced Raw Materials
• People and Community: Ensuring Responsible and Ethical Production

This is an effort to help to create a sustainability index number to provide customers with product information in a simple, convenient, easy to understand rating, so they can make choices and consume in a more sustainable way.

So what does this mean to the packaging industry?

Those companies who design and develop packaging will need to know and understand these 15 questions and how they contribute to their customers’ answers as suppliers to Walmart.

Have a read and let us know what you think.

Thanks go out to Branding & Marketing Guru @chrisbrown330 for bringing our attention to this article

You can read Chris’ full article at: http://tinyurl.com/nvmwva

read more »

Simeon Goldstein, packagingnews.co.uk, 22 July 2009

Asda has not concluded which suppliers will need to provide information for owner Wal-Mart’s sustainable product index when it is launched in the UK next year.

via Wal-Mart sustainability index to reach UK in 2010 | packagingnews.co.uk.

It’s good to see that consumers are thinking more about their carrier bag usage and there has been a HUGE voluntary reduction, so why is this being turned into a negative news story by the media (because it’s fallen short of the 50% target)? I also tend to agree with Barry Turner, chairman of the Carrier Bag Consortium, that this continuous focus on plastic carrier bags is taking everyone’s eyes off the ‘bigger picture’ and all of the other good work that has been done by supermarkets. After all, plastic carrier bags represent less than 1% of all household waste in the UK. So let’s get our priorities right guys and concentrate on the ’sharks’ and not the ‘minnows’. Chris Penfold

Supermarkets cut plastic bag use by 48%, says WRAP Simeon Goldstein, packagingnews.co.uk, 17 July 2009

Carrier bag usage has almost halved in the past three years, according to new data from WRAP.

Read the full article here: Supermarkets cut plastic bag use by 48%, says Wrap | packagingnews.co.uk.

Catherine Dawes, packagingnews.co.uk, 15 July 2009

The Food Standards Agency FSA is reviewing its recommendations for food traffic light labelling, to more closely resemble Asdas.

To read more just click the link FSA to advise Asda traffic light is best | packagingnews.co.uk.

This is a worthy initiative by Wal-Mart, but a huge undertaking that will take months (if not years) to implement. I’m not sure what benefit, if any, there will be for consumers who will probably not read or even understand them – which could lead to huge misconceptions. So consumer education will be essential to back this up. Also, I’m not sure how much information is going to be shown on the packaging – much of which is already very restricted for space. So this could actually lead to an increase in packaging – unless all of this information is made available on-line via a 2D data-matrix barcode – Now there’s a thought! – Chris Penfold

Wal-Mart to put eco-rating on products - July 16, 2009 – 8:19AM  The Sydney Morning Herald

Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the world’s largest retailer, plans to demand that all its suppliers measure the environmental cost of making their products so Wal-Mart can calculate and post an eco-rating for each item.

The ambitious program, to be announced Thursday, is likely to spur companies to redesign products from electronics to jeans, but it presents still more costs to contain as they pinch pennies to tackle the recession.

Read more at:  Wal-Mart to put eco-rating on products.

Thanks to @electronicalex for bringing our attention to this article