Making Decisions: Packaging and the Environment 4 Students redesign and justify the packaging used in consumer products. Design criteria include reducing the amount of packaging material by 25%. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that one-third of America's municipal solid waste comes from packaging. Given that, it is possible to make a significant impact on the environment by adopting packaging that is highly functional yet minimally wasteful. Some elements of this strategy, which is known as source reduction, include: lighter packaging, larger-sized packaging (bulk), flexible vs. rigid packing, and eliminating or reducing water (concentrated). Packaging engineers are faced with this challenge as more products are being developed. It is their job to engineer packaging that functions as needed, but with minimal environmental damage. engineering design process environment packaging design packaging engineering source reduction Describe some decisions related to advantages and disadvantages of packaging and processes. Use resources (people, references, Internet) to gain knowledge. Consider the environmental impact of (re)designing products. Bags containing 3 packaged products from the areas of food, health or beauty aids, and some other product. Examples: boxed cookies, frozen pizza, deodorant, allergy medication, shoes, shampoo, detergent, CDs. A few large examples of packaging, such as the boxes (and protective inside packaging, plastic bags, twist ties, instructions, etc.) that come with a new computer, TV or furniture. A new president has been elected on a platform stressing environmental awareness. The new president proposes that in addition to increasing our targets for recycling and reusing materials, the U.S. will reduce the amount of packaging being used by 25% within four years. The Committee for Protection of the Environment is designing alternative packaging that meets these new guidelines to ensure that the 25% reduction target is met. As a member of this committee, your goal is to aid in the packaging reduction. Not using what we do not need and using less of what we do need. To use something over again. The goal is for students to understand the basics of engineering associated with packaging products and the potential impact on the environment. Packaging around consumer products serves many purposes. By holding pre-measured quantities of products, packaging makes items easier to store, ship, stack and price. Packaging offers protection from damage or breakage, as well as preservation so that food spoilage is minimized. Packages can also provide information about contents and help to market the product. One strategy that helps to minimize the waste from packaging is source reduction. In contrast to reusing and recycling, this strategy is employed before items are packaged. In effect, source reduction means not using packaging that is not needed and using less of what is necessary. Reducing packaging in this manner has the greatest potential to save resources and slow down landfill depletion rates. Four types of source reduction are lighter packaging, larger-sized packaging, flexible vs. rigid packaging, and eliminating or reducing water. Lighter Packaging: Surprisingly, this is more important than using recyclable packaging. Since recycling levels are so low, we can usually create less packaging by choosing lighter-weight materials. (For an example, see Worksheet A: Mathematics of Packaging.) When it comes to weight, paperboard, plastic and aluminum are all efficient packaging sources. Larger-Sized Packaging: In addition to providing cost savings, buying things in bulk provides packaging savings. (See example in Worksheet A: Mathematics of Packaging.) Consumers should only buy quantities that can be used up so that spoilage does not offset the packaging reduction benefits. Flexible vs. Rigid Packaging: Flexible pouches can weigh up to 75 to 90% less than the rigid containers than they replace. They are also easier to compact, which means they take up less space in landfills. A dramatic example to illustrate this is that juice boxes are 90% lighter and take up 70% less volume than the glass bottles they replace. Eliminating or Reducing Water: Having products in concentrated, powdered or dried forms allows for more efficient packaging. Powdered detergents are now available in concentrated forms, so the consumer gets more washes from a small box. Gather a variety of packaged products to show as examples. Make up bags of examples for each group. Make copies of Worksheets A and B. Part 1: Redesigning Packaging Spend a few minutes guiding students to share their observations about the purposes of packaging. Also discuss the differences between source reduction, recycling and reusing products. Make sure students understand that this activity is about source reduction and not the latter two strategies. Review the four types of source reduction. Hand out Worksheet A: Mathematics of Packaging and have students work through the problems. This exercise highlights the importance of source reduction in light of the low recycling rates in the U.S. Divide the class into groups of 3 to 4 students. Give each group a bag containing packaging from three products. Have the students think about the reasons that each kind of packaging is used. With those as a starting point, think about ways that the packaging could be reduced without compromising the product in any way. It may be necessary to alter the product slightly such as eliminating water to reduce bulk. The students should use the table on Worksheet B: Packaging to help them determine the purpose of each piece of packaging material. Have students think about whether the packaging is necessary and if so, how it might be reduced. Have students draw the new packaging and discuss the ways that they changed it and why. Part 2: Sharing Solutions Have each group decide which of their packaging solutions they are most proud of. Ask for a group volunteer to show the design and explain its merits. After the group has explained the design, highlight which of the four methods of source reduction they utilized. Ask another group, who used a similar strategy to explain what they did. This shows how the same strategy may be suitable for many different products. If no groups used the same strategy, then ask a group that utilized a different strategy to share their design with the class. Allow each group to discuss a packaging solution. If all four methods of source reduction have not been discussed, use examples to try to get the students to discuss all four methods. Lead a discussion about how the students approached the problem like engineers. Also discuss what types of jobs are involved in packaging. Worksheet A (doc) Worksheet A (pdf) Worksheet A Answers (doc) Worksheet A Answers (pdf) Worksheet B (doc) Worksheet B (pdf) Involve local experts to enhance the activity. Contact an engineering school at a local university, WEPAN (www.wepan.org), or the Society of Woman Engineers (www.swe.org). What are the other advantages of lighter packages? (They typically contain less material that needs to be recycled and they also cost less to ship since not as much fuel is required for transporting them.) What are the recycling rates for commonly used materials? (Aluminum is best with a recovery rate in the 60 to 65% range. Glass is recycled at a rate of just under 40%, while the rate for plastic recycling is currently about 10%.) Are there any advantages to packaging food? (First, packaging keeps food from getting spoiled which means it can be eaten and not put in landfills. Second, packaging lets us process food more efficiently. For example, when chickens are packaged at a plant, the feathers and other "waste products" are processed into other usable things. When individual butchers process the chickens, these items are usually thrown away. On the other hand, processed and packaged food is not fresh and thus lower in quality and nutrition for humans.) Worksheets: Review and grade student worksheets to assess their comprehension of the subject material. Have students bring in products from home. Determine the ratio of packing weight to product weight. What sorts of products have high/low ratios? Research other countries to see if their reduction, recycling, and reuse efforts are similar to ours. (For example, many countries require that manufacturers be responsible to recycle the original packaging and eventual disposal of their products.) To enhance the math component, have students convert the problems to the metric system.