Do you are feeling a bit misplaced when folks seek advice from sure environmental sustainability matters and aren’t certain the place to start out relating to studying extra? Sustainability 101 is a weblog sequence that you could flip to for details about totally different environmental phrases that will come up at work, throughout discussions with associates, and even at your annual vacation gathering.
This weblog was written by Nicole Kenney, Program Supervisor, Sustainable Packaging, and Drew Phan, Packaging Engineer.
As a part of fashionable life, many of the merchandise we purchase are available plastic packaging. Once you purchase one thing with plastic packaging, you’re most likely not conscious of what kind of plastic it’s. There’s recycled plastic, which is when recycled bits of plastic are reprocessed into plastic merchandise. And there’s additionally virgin plastic, often known as virgin plastic polymers, which based on a 2022 report, means “newly manufactured resin produced from petrochemical or biomass feedstock used because the uncooked materials for the manufacture of plastic merchandise and which has by no means been used or processed earlier than.”
Basically, virgin plastics are manufactured from beforehand unused supplies, which implies they will take an even bigger toll on the atmosphere.
Because the Nineteen Fifties, plastic has overrun the packaging trade by offering cheap and lightweight safety for merchandise. Plastic packaging is broadly out there within the type of standard foams, luggage, and clamshell trays. Over the many years, this has led to a worldwide construct up of plastic air pollution, since these supplies are usually not all the time managed appropriately at finish of use. Though plastics are present in all main municipal strong waste classes, in the US the containers and packaging class had essentially the most plastic tonnage at over 14.5 million tons in 2018 alone.1 That’s equal to the burden of over 300,000 grey whales. The sheer quantity of waste has led to rising consciousness across the impression of packaging and elevated buyer demand for sustainable options.
On the similar time, a product has little to no worth if it arrives broken. Cisco’s Packaging Engineering division thinks holistically relating to designing Cisco’s packaging with sustainability in thoughts. We’re rethinking product packaging and are sourcing different supplies to plastic. Our technique consists of eliminating plastic luggage in our packaging wherever potential. For example, we have now eliminated plastic packaging from our energy cords, leading to a discount of over 10 million luggage yearly. Work is underway to use the identical efforts throughout further part classes.
Design for Recyclability
The place we can’t utterly take away plastic packaging, we should select options with a smaller environmental footprint. This implies choosing recyclable supplies which are simply separated and broadly accepted in curbside recycling streams. As soon as these supplies are recovered, they are often damaged down and re-processed into the feedstock for the subsequent spherical of packaging.
For example, our plastic thermoform cushions are made from the identical high-density polyethylene materials as milk jugs and might be accepted in the identical plastic curbside recycling stream.* In accordance with the U.S. Environmental Safety Company (EPA), HDPE (Excessive Density Polyethylene) is likely one of the most incessantly recycled plastics in the US.1
Within the case of plastic luggage in our accent kits, efforts are underway to make the most of fiber-based paper envelopes and corrugated sleeves which are recyclable. Paper is presently the very best different as a result of it’s the most recycled materials in the US.2
Select Recycled Supplies
Recycled supplies are totally different from recyclable supplies in that recycled packaging has a proportion of fabric inputs which have already been damaged down and reprocessed after use. By incorporating extra recycled content material into our packaging, we preserve helpful sources and scale back greenhouse fuel emissions in comparison with manufacturing virgin supplies. Selecting recycled supplies additionally promotes recycling by growing the demand for recycled supplies.
We’re focusing our vitality on recyclable and recycled plastics as a result of, sadly, biodegradable and compostable plastics aren’t effectively suited to use within the electronics trade.
Biodegradable and bio-based are phrases used loosely to explain plastics comprised of plant sources. The largest concern for these supplies is that it’s not all the time clear how lengthy it would take for these plastics to interrupt down. Since they’re typically not licensed compostable, they will probably leech toxins into the soil.3
Relating to compostable packaging, the U.S. Federal Commerce Fee (FTC) Inexperienced Guides clarify that this packaging should be licensed with “competent and dependable scientific proof that each one supplies within the product or bundle will break down into — or grow to be a part of — usable compost safely and in about the identical time because the supplies with which it’s composted.”4 That is good for natural waste like meals scraps, grass clippings and yard waste. However presently, the shorter shelf lifetime of compostable packaging makes it higher suited to meals packaging than the electronics trade.
A round technique
We’re evolving to a extra round mannequin by which we scale back the sources we devour and the waste we generate. With this method, we attempt to prioritize supplies with recycled content material; design merchandise for useful resource effectivity; and facilitate restore, remanufacturing, and recycling to increase product life. That’s why we have now a purpose for 100% of latest Cisco merchandise and packaging to include Round Design Rules by fiscal yr 2025.** Utilizing recycled supplies is an instance of considered one of our rules.
By pursuing our purpose to include Round Design Rules, we are able to use much less virgin materials, and devour much less materials total. Lowering our packaging carbon footprint will drive progress in the direction of Cisco’s packaging objectives.5
As we take the required steps to embed Round Design Rules into our packaging portfolio, you will need to do not forget that each alternative has tradeoffs — there is no such thing as a one-size suits all resolution. Attaining circularity is an iterative course of — what’s greatest for at the moment is probably not what’s greatest for tomorrow. But when we stay agile and try for fulfillment, we are able to proceed to maneuver in a optimistic route in the direction of a round financial system.
Comply with our Packaging Engineering staff’s journey as we proceed to evolve our round packaging portfolio.6
* Test your native municipality for more information.
** In fiscal yr 2022, we had carried out a smooth launch of a brand new scoring device that evaluates circularity in merchandise and packaging. We used the smooth launch to judge 13% of latest merchandise and packaging, and located that 33% of them efficiently met our round design standards. That is equal to 4% of whole new merchandise and packaging launched in fiscal yr 2022 assembly round design standards. In early fiscal 2023, the scoring device was formally launched throughout all enterprise items, and we anticipate the universe of latest merchandise and packaging evaluated to extend in fiscal 2023.
References
1 Plastics: Materials-Particular Information | US EPA
2 Paper and Paperboard: Materials-Particular Information | US EPA
3 Public_SPC-Place-Statement_Biodegradable-Packaging.pdf (sustainablepackaging.org)
4 Environmental Claims: Abstract of the Inexperienced Guides | Federal Commerce Fee (ftc.gov)
5 Environmental Objectives – Cisco ESG Hub
6 Cisco Sustainable Packaging – Cisco
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