All News
Lab testing confirms select grades of paperboard with EarthCoating to be recyclable materials
Newport Beach, CA, September 6, 2013 - Smart Planet Technologies, Inc., a leader in innovative materials that address sustainability challenges in packaging, today announced that select paperboard grades with EarthCoating® have successfully completed recyclability and repulpability testing at Georgia Tech’s Institute of Paper Science and Technology, located in Atlanta, Georgia. EarthCoating is a highly mineralized barrier coating containing less plastic than traditional 100% polyethylene coating, while providing superior performance metrics and environmental advantages.
Traditionally, barrier packaging materials used in forming hot/cold cups, ice cream containers, and folding cartons coated with 100% polyethylene or similar materials, are poor candidates for recycling and often destined for the landfill. However, EarthCoating, when used with select grades of paperboards, can be commercially recycled as light and heavy print virgin bleached board cuttings, thus providing significant economic and environmental gains. In addition, this solution provides great potential for the post-consumer recyclability of barrier-coated packaging.
EarthCoating technology offers a recyclable solution for the approximately two million tons of 100% polyethylene-coated boards produced in the US annually. Recycling collection pilots are being planned such that specific packages can be labeled recyclable subject to FTC Green Guide stipulations.
“EarthCoating continues to prove itself as a superior technology to 100% polyethylene in packaging applications that require high performance heat seal and barrier requirements equal to or exceeding polyethylene. The recyclability of these paperboard materials with EarthCoating overcomes an important technological challenge for the paperboard and packaging industries,” says Chris Tilton, Chief Technology Officer of Smart Planet Technologies.
About Smart Planet Technologies Smart Planet Technologies is a materials intellectual property company focused on sustainability for the packaging industry. Our innovative technologies are focused to conserve precious natural resources and provide high quality, environmental alternatives across a wide variety of packaging applications. For more information, please visit our website at www.SmartPlanetTech.com
Contact Smart Planet Technologies: Todd Gasparik, Director of Business Development, Smart Planet Technologies Todd@SmartPlanetTech.com
Evergreen Packaging announces license agreement with Smart Planet Technologies
Smart Planet Technologies’ EarthCoating® reduces plastic used in coated paperboard products MEMPHIS, Tenn. – July 18, 2013 – Evergreen Packaging announced today it has entered into an intellectual property license agreement with Smart Planet Technologies. Under the agreement, Evergreen Packaging will initially explore the development of cupstock products using EarthCoating® technology, a mineralized barrier coating for paperboard materials. Trial work and pilot testing are scheduled for the third quarter of 2013.
The EarthCoating mineralized resins are innovative, high performance coatings, which contain less plastic than traditional low-density polyethylene coatings. EarthCoating resins are heat-sealable and FDA-compliant for direct food contact. “As a leading supplier of paperboard for cupstock and liquid beverage packaging, Evergreen Packaging is focused on product innovations using less plastic and packaging materials. Working with Smart Planet Technologies will help us in our innovation efforts to reduce the amount of plastic used in our products and support our sustainability initiatives” according to Bob Shanahan, VP of North American Operations for Evergreen Packaging.
About Evergreen Packaging
Evergreen Packaging is a global leader in fiber-based packaging, paperboard, and paper. Evergreen Packaging is committed to sustainability through the use of renewable resources and energy and promotion of carton recycling. For more information, please visit evergreenpackaging.com.
About Smart Planet Technologies
Smart Planet Technologies is a materials R&D company focused on sustainability for the packaging industry. Through innovation, their technologies are focused to conserve precious natural resources and provide high quality, environmental alternatives to a wide variety of rigid, flexible, corrugated and paperboard packaging applications. For more information about EarthCoating and Smart Planet Technologies, visit SmartPlanetTech.com.
Smart Planet Technologies Introduces New Barrier Coating as PVdC Coating Replacement
New, alternative coating provides a cost-effective, environmentally-friendlier solution for select folding carton packaging applications Newport Beach, CA.-- April 16, 2013-- Smart Planet Technologies, Inc., a leader in innovative coatings that address sustainability challenges in packaging, announces a new coating, EarthCoating™ Hyperbarrier 40 (HB40™), providing a cost-effective, environmentally-friendlier alternative to hazardous Polyvinilidene Chloride (PVdC) coatings in barrier folding carton packaging.
PVdC coatings are known for excellent barrier performance in folding carton packaging applications, such as dry laundry detergent packaging, however, PVdC coatings can release dioxins and furans if incinerated. The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (www.pops.int), an international environmental treaty with 152 member country signatories, seeks to eliminate chemicals such as PVdC that can produce dioxins and furans.
The EarthCoating HB40™ resin is a non-toxic, cost-effective coating blend, which outperforms PVdC coatings, without any dioxin or furan-producing compounds. EarthCoating HB40™ is FDA-compliant for direct food contact.
EarthCoating HB40™ is easily integrated into the existing supply chain. Paperboard materials using EarthCoating HB40™ can be die-cut, folded and glued using existing converting machinery. EarthCoating HB40™ can be extrusion-coated using existing equipment and at standard commercial production line speeds.
“By outperforming PVdC coatings, improving the environmental footprint of the packaging, and being cost-effective, EarthCoating HB40™ makes the case for a great reduction in the use of PVdC as a coating, globally” said Chris Tilton, chief technology officer for Smart Planet Technologies™, Inc.
ABOUT SMART PLANET TECHNOLOGIES
Smart Planet Technologies is a materials intellectual property company focused on sustainability for the packaging industry. Through innovation, our technologies are focused to conserve precious natural resources and provide high quality, environmental alternatives to a wide variety of rigid, flexible, barrier liners, and other packaging applications. For more information, please visit our website at www.SmartPlanetTech.com
Contact:
Todd Gasparik, Smart Planet Technologies
International Paper Completes Licensing Deal with Smart Planet Technologies
6400 Poplar Avenue Memphis, TN38197 901-419-9000
News Release
International Paper, Leading Supplier of Coated Paperboard, Exploring Sustainable Packaging Options with Smart Planet Technologies™
New technology reduces plastic used in coated paperboard products.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – January 11, 2013 -- International Paper (NYSE: IP) announced today it has completed a license agreement with Smart Planet Technologies to explore the development of products using EarthCoatingTM, a mineralized barrier coating for paperboard products. The company’s coated paperboard division plans to create a line of folding carton and cupstock products within their Everest® and Fortress® grade lines that would improve yield and reduce plastic use while offering the same barrier properties available today. Trial work and pilot testing are scheduled for the first quarter of 2013.
The EarthCoating mineralized resins are innovative, high performance coatings, which contain less plastic than traditional low-density polyethylene coatings. EarthCoating resins are heat-sealable and FDA-compliant for direct food contact.
“International Paper has a long history of providing innovative fiber-based packaging that is essential to everyday life”, said, Greg Gibson, vice president, Coated Paperboard. “As a leading supplier to the consumer packaging and food service markets, we know that paperboard converters and consumer product companies are focused on reducing the amount of packaging material they use while maintaining the required protective barriers and print performance. Our development initiative with Smart Planet Technologies and EarthCoating represents our efforts to create innovative and sustainable products that meet those needs."
About International Paper International Paper (NYSE: IP) is a global paper and packaging company with manufacturing operations in North America, Europe, Latin America, Russia, Asia and North Africa. Its businesses include uncoated papers and industrial and consumer packaging, complemented by xpedx, the company's North American distribution company. Headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., the company employs approximately 70,000 people and is strategically located in more than 24 countries serving customers worldwide. International Paper net sales for 2011 were $26 billion. Temple-Inland Inc., which was acquired in February 2012, had 2011 net sales of $4 billion. For more information about International Paper, its products and stewardship efforts, visit internationalpaper.com.
About Smart Planet Technologies Smart Planet Technologies is a materials R&D company focused on sustainability for the packaging industry. Through innovation, their technologies are focused to conserve precious natural resources and provide high quality, environmental alternatives to a wide variety of rigid, flexible, corrugated and paperboard packaging applications. For more information about EarthCoating and Smart Planet Technologies, visit SmartPlanetTech.com.
SOURCE International Paper
Media:
Esther Piñon esther.pinon@ipaper.com (901) 419-7587
Crista Allen christa.allen@ipaper.com (901) 419-4318
Whole Foods Moves to Mineralized EarthCoating for Deli Trays
As seen in Packaging World Magazine - http://www.packworld.com/sustainability/source-reduction/whole-foods-moves-mineralized-coating-deli-boxes
The Rocky Mountain Region of grocer Whole Foods Market plans to introduce its 100% recycled paperboard deli boxes with a coating made from 40% calcium carbonate.
By Anne Marie Mohan, Editor, Greener Package
“What I really want is a compostable coating that can be third party-certified as such and third party-certified as non-GMO,” McConnell says. “It would be a real game changer in the industry.”
The Rocky Mountain Region, which includes five states (Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, New Mexico, and Utah) and 28 stores, offers consumers two types of containers for use with its salad bar and hot food selections: a compostable wood fiber-based clamshell, and two sizes of the Bio-Plus Earth recycled paperboard containers from Fold-Pak. The 100% recycled-content Bio-Plus Earth® containers currently use a PE coating to provide leak-resistance and a grease barrier.
At Whole Foods’ request, Fold-Pak will provide the Bio-Plus Earth containers with Smart Planet’s EC-40 coating, which contains up to 60% less polymer content by weight than 100% low-density PE coatings while providing superior barrier properties to moisture, oil, grease, and fatty acids.
McConnell says his suppliers were receptive to the idea of experimenting with the new coating, and are currently in the process of fine-tuning the new solution. He says the new containers are expected to be available in Whole Foods’ Rocky Mountain Region stores within the next six weeks. Once implemented, the new containers will represent 1.5 million units/year.While McConnell says his ultimate goal for the paperboard deli-food packaging is certified compostability, the EarthCoating containers are a step forward. “We are working with two companies, Smart Planet and Fold-Pak, that are on a path that aligns with our core values,” he says. “Some people might call this a ‘less bad’ solution. I hate that terminology. I think it’s a ‘more good’ solution.
“If we waited for the perfect solution, we would have to say ‘no’ to suppliers all the time. They need the research and development dollars, they need someone to buy their product, and it’s an improvement over what was available previously. So we’re on the right path, and if it can get us to a compostable coating that is certified non-GMO, then that will be the ideal solution.”