ecotainer™ - Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Can this material be recycled?
A. Yes, in the limited municipalities which accept poly-coated paperboard and packaging. Companies have worked with local recyclers to integrate ecotainer™ into the office paper waste stream.
Q. Aren't all paper cups and containers biodegradable?
A. No. Although paper is generally biodegradable, the traditional coatings for making these products usually prevent them from meeting compostability requirements. This new PLA coated material is certified by the Biodegradable Products Institute to conform to ASTM standards for municipal composting.
Q. Can I throw ecotainer™ products on the side of the road?
A. No. These products are not intended to be immediately degradable in a "roadside" environment. Ideally these products are either composted or recycled. We encourage all of our ecotainer™ customers to take advantage of, and support more environmentally friendly disposable options.
Q. Should ecotainer™ products be considered "sustainable" packaging?
A. While we believe ecotainer™products are a step in the right direction, we won't go so far as to call it "sustainable" packaging. The accepted definition of sustainable packaging (Sustainable Packaging Coalition) requires a product be created and transported with fully renewable resources and that the disposal has no impact on the environment. We aren't there yet, but are confident this cup and our customer's efforts to establish systems to collect it in-store, demonstrate progress in the right direction.
Q. How about the lids for these cups and containers? Are they currently made out of PLA material or other non-petroleum plastic?
A. At this time, the progress made on bio-plastics has not yet yielded a material that can perform in both hot and cold applications. We are working with a number of manufactures to develop materials that will meet our three principle criteria for ecotainer™ products (fully compostable, fully renewable, and smaller environmental footprint) in the near future.
Q. Is this the first use of this product anywhere in the market?
A. International Paper was first to market with a product of this kind, launching ecotainer™ products in July 2006. Since then, ecotainer™ products have been sold to a variety of customers including many category leaders.
Q. Does the ecotainer™ packaging cost more?
A. Yes, ecotainer™ costs a bit more due to the cost of the materials and equipment modifications to manufacture the product.
Q. This is compostable packaging, but what happens if it ends up in a landfill? Have we really accomplished anything?
A. Yes, the upstream benefits of sourcing fully renewable materials with improved environmental characteristics are real regardless of the end-of-use options. These benefits include reduced greenhouse gas emissions, reduced dependence on petrochemical materials and enabling other material recovery options.
Q. What kind of impact can I have as a single consumer?
A. Combined individual consumers in the United States alone use about 40 billion paper and 35 billion plastic and foam cold cups every year. 16 billion paper hot cups and 25 billion foam hot cups are also used in the United States every year. Together, single consumers can impact the direction taken by retailers and ultimately by packaging suppliers like International Paper.
ecotainer™ FAQ's (pdf)
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