07.21.10
SPC Issues Updated Web App for Sustainable Packaging
New guideline allows for transportation analysis and its effect on packaging designs
It’s been said that if you’re lost in the woods, a compass is the most valuable tool you can have in order to find your way. And in striving to be environmentally sustainable in packaging, brand owners can sometimes feel lost, as a product’s environmental impact isn’t always so clear. But there is a “Compass” available, to help brands steer toward greener packaging.
The Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC) is a project of GreenBlue, a Charlottesville, VA, based nonprofit sustainability organization and an industry working group of over 200 companies from across the packaging supply chain. The SPC recently released its Compass Version 2.0, a web application, which allows packaging professionals to compare the environmental impacts of various package designs. There’s nothing to download, and all you need is a web browser.
The program was developed specifically for brand owners, packaging designers and engineers. It uses a life cycle approach, and assesses packages on resource consumption, emissions and packaging attributes such as material health, recycled or virgin content, sourcing and solid waste. The newest version of Compass—2.0—takes things a step further; it includes the ability to model the transportation impacts associated with packaging distribution.
The life cycle approach incorporated into Compass 2.0 accounts for environmental impacts associated with the materials and processes used to bring packaging to market. It allows the packaging decision makers to incorporate environmental parameters along with economic factors, and is ideally used as part of the design phase, to help designers make more informed decisions prior to taking a new package to market. The life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) data takes into account raw material sourcing or extraction, packaging material manufacture, conversion, distribution and end-of-life treatment. Average transportation and purchased electricity within manufacturing and end-of-life phases is also included.
The metrics Compass uses to assess environmental impact of materials and conversion processes is comprehensive. A wide range of polymers, fiber-based materials, metals and glass can all be incorporated, and the packaging processes it can take into account are numerous. For example, the program can assess the environmental impact of blow molding, injection molding, production of paper bags, production of cartons, corrugated boxes, cutting, and sheet rolling, just to name a few. In addition, it’s also possible to add a new material for Compass to assess.
Compass is also versatile and can be used regardless of geography. It offers an environmental profile of packaging based on internationally recognized methodologies and consistent data modeling using relevant and credible data sources. Its assessment method and data have been vetted by independent verification and member companies within the SPC, and supported by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
“We have collaborated with several members of the user community to implement additional features in this round of development,” says Minal Mistry, SPC project manager. “The combination of user interface enhancements and additional functionality makes Compass an even more robust system that provides cost effective means to include environmental parameters into the packaging design process.”
Since its March 2009 launch, Compass has been adopted by several leading global companies, and the SPC says that more than 80 companies are using it to guide their packaging programs, including Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, and packaging academic institutions such as Michigan State University and the Rochester Institute of Technology, which are now using the program in their packaging curriculum. Just this past April, UPS announced that it would use Compass for its Eco Responsible Program to provide the environmental profiles of their customers’ shipment packaging.
“We decided on Compass, due to its breadth of information and our confidence that the SPC would be committed to keeping this tool updated with the best-available information,” says UPS manager of sustainability solutions Arnold Barlow. “Compass is now an integral part of our Eco Responsible Packaging Program.”
To purchase a license for Compass, visit www.design-compass.org. Annual licenses are $1,000 for SPC members and $2,000 for non-members. A free trial is available on the website.
New guideline allows for transportation analysis and its effect on packaging designs
The Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC) is a project of GreenBlue, a Charlottesville, VA, based nonprofit sustainability organization and an industry working group of over 200 companies from across the packaging supply chain. The SPC recently released its Compass Version 2.0, a web application, which allows packaging professionals to compare the environmental impacts of various package designs. There’s nothing to download, and all you need is a web browser.
The program was developed specifically for brand owners, packaging designers and engineers. It uses a life cycle approach, and assesses packages on resource consumption, emissions and packaging attributes such as material health, recycled or virgin content, sourcing and solid waste. The newest version of Compass—2.0—takes things a step further; it includes the ability to model the transportation impacts associated with packaging distribution.
The life cycle approach incorporated into Compass 2.0 accounts for environmental impacts associated with the materials and processes used to bring packaging to market. It allows the packaging decision makers to incorporate environmental parameters along with economic factors, and is ideally used as part of the design phase, to help designers make more informed decisions prior to taking a new package to market. The life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) data takes into account raw material sourcing or extraction, packaging material manufacture, conversion, distribution and end-of-life treatment. Average transportation and purchased electricity within manufacturing and end-of-life phases is also included.
Compass is also versatile and can be used regardless of geography. It offers an environmental profile of packaging based on internationally recognized methodologies and consistent data modeling using relevant and credible data sources. Its assessment method and data have been vetted by independent verification and member companies within the SPC, and supported by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
“We have collaborated with several members of the user community to implement additional features in this round of development,” says Minal Mistry, SPC project manager. “The combination of user interface enhancements and additional functionality makes Compass an even more robust system that provides cost effective means to include environmental parameters into the packaging design process.”
Since its March 2009 launch, Compass has been adopted by several leading global companies, and the SPC says that more than 80 companies are using it to guide their packaging programs, including Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, and packaging academic institutions such as Michigan State University and the Rochester Institute of Technology, which are now using the program in their packaging curriculum. Just this past April, UPS announced that it would use Compass for its Eco Responsible Program to provide the environmental profiles of their customers’ shipment packaging.
“We decided on Compass, due to its breadth of information and our confidence that the SPC would be committed to keeping this tool updated with the best-available information,” says UPS manager of sustainability solutions Arnold Barlow. “Compass is now an integral part of our Eco Responsible Packaging Program.”
To purchase a license for Compass, visit www.design-compass.org. Annual licenses are $1,000 for SPC members and $2,000 for non-members. A free trial is available on the website.
