Working alongside two partners – carbon recycling company LanzaTech and India Glycols, a manufacturer of green technology-based chemicals – Unilevr has produced a surfactant made from carbon emissions.

Surfactants are a key ingredient for creating the foam and cleaning action of many household cleaning and laundry products. They are typically derived from fossil fuels, but this new process means we can now make them using recycled carbon.

There are three stages to the process. LanzaTech first captures the industrial emissions at a steel mill in Beijing and converts the waste gases into ethanol. India Glycols then converts the ethanol into ethylene oxide, which is used to make a range of ingredients, including surfactants. We then use this surfactant in the manufacture of our new OMO (Persil) laundry capsules at our Hefei factory in China.

The process LanzaTech is using to create ethanol from captured carbon cuts the greenhouse gas emissions by 82% compared to the traditional fossil-fuel process.

The new limited-edition OMO capsules launched in China on 22 April – at no extra cost to consumers – marking the first time that a surfactant made using captured carbon emissions has come onto the market in a cleaning product.

“Advancements in technology like this means we can now reinvent the chemistry of our products,” says Peter ter Kulve, President of the Home Care division. “Instead of valuable carbon being released directly into the atmosphere, we can capture it and recycle it in our products in place of using fossil fuels.

“We want to make sustainability easy for everyone that uses our products. New innovations like this help move our iconic cleaning brands away from fossil fuels without compromising on performance or affordability. We’re excited by the potential that this breakthrough represents for future innovations across our portfolio and our industry.”

Shareholder advocacy firm As You Sow submitted a proposal requesting shareholders vote to have Amazon issue a report on packaging materials, citing the ocean plastics crisis that fatally impacting marine species and damages marine ecosystems.

“Amazon does not disclose how much plastic packaging it uses but is believed to be one of the largest corporate users of flexible plastic packaging, which cannot be recycled,” according to the proposal.

As You So alleged that Amazon has no goal to make all of its packaging recyclable and said up to 22 million pounds of its plastic packaging waste entered the world’s marine ecosystems last year.

“Shareholders request that the board of directors issue a report by December 2021 on plastic packaging, estimating the amount of plastics released to the environment due to plastic packaging attributable to all Amazon operations, and beginning with the manufacture of the plastic source materials, through disposal or recycling, and describing any company strategies or goals to reduce the use of plastic packaging to reduce these impacts.”

Amazon countered by noting its initiatives and its founding membership in The Climate Pledge, as well as its commitment that 50% of all Amazon shipments will be net-zero carbon by 2030, and renewable energy programs that “have put us on a path to powering our operations with 100% renewable energy by 2025.”

“We recognize the importance of reducing plastic waste by promoting reusable and recyclable packaging. As described in more detail below, including with respect to our goals, we have made progress in four primary areas in our efforts to reduce our use of plastics:

(1) plastics in packaging for products manufactured by other companies that we sell to our customers (where we can make the biggest impact),

(2) plastics in packaging to the extent we repackage a product for delivery,

(3) plastics in Amazon devices and our private label products, and

(4) plastics in physical stores, primarily Whole Foods Market and its use of plastic shopping bags and plastic straws.”

Amazon said it has a goal of having the packaging for Amazon devices be plastic-free and made up of entirely curbside recyclable material by 2023. “We will continue to share our efforts and progress to our shareholders and the public,” and the Board recommended that shareholders vote against the proposal.

The chicken chain said the new look is a "more modern take" on the KFC's signature red and white colors. Colonel Sanders' head will still adorn the buckets, sandwich wrappers and cups, but the refreshed designs will more closely imitate its original signature bucket.

KFC said it's adding reheating instructions, a brief blurb about the history of its fried chicken and is bringing back the "It's Finger Lickin' Good" slogan to its buckets. The phrase briefly disappeared last year because of the pandemic.

The addition the reheating instructions is likely the result of customers buying more fast food to have for leftovers so they could limit their exposure to Covid-19. That behavior has largely remained the same throughout the pandemic, Yum Brands (YUM) said in its most recent earnings call.

The packaging is also becoming slightly more environmentally friendly. KFC said it worked with Sustainable Forestry Initiative and Forest Stewardship Council to develop approved paperboard that can be recycled.

It's the newest announcement from KFC. Last year, it rolled out a new restaurant design and this year it has added new menu items, like a flagship chicken sandwich that has performed well.

In recent months, Burger King and McDonald's also released new and more modern packaging to keep customers engaged.

Scholle IPN has been on a mission to develop flexible packaging solutions for water—we understand the critical need to find a safe way to distribute water and the challenges inherent in packages designed to hold water. In 2018, we debuted 2Pure™, a polyethylene-based film that offers a taint- and odor-free water package that also cuts down on material costs and environmental waste.

Primo decided to partner with Scholle IPN for their brand’s latest project: the Good to Go bag-in-box water package. “[The] Primo Good to Go water in a box product … provides consumers with active lifestyles the convenience of pure, healthy water on the go while also reducing the amount of plastic they use,” says Fogg. “Customers are concerned about the environmental impact of single-serve water bottles, and Primo Good to Go gives them a convenient alternative that uses 84.3% less plastic than an average case pack of bottled water.”

Water is one of the single-most important things we need to sustain life, and we’ve seen repeated instances where access to safe drinking water has been threatened or cut off—think of the Texas snowstorm in February 2021 that left hundreds of thousands of people with clean water and still persists today or the Flint Water Crisis where a whole community lacked safe drinking water for almost five years. Conventional water reservoirs that supply taps in our homes are easily contaminated and cannot promise to provide safe drinking water, particularly during moments of crisis.

Bag-in-box water solutions provide access to safe water in a way that is speedy and environmentally conscious. A full trailer of 5-gallon water coolers—the kind you often see in offices—can hold 2,680 bottles. A full trailer of 20L bags can hold 100,000 bags and produce 36% less greenhouse gas emissions than plastic bottles.

The folks at Primo are always looking towards innovative solutions that encourage consumers to adopt healthier and sustainable habits. “At Primo, our combined retail brand and product portfolio already provides us with a value proposition that sets us apart from our competitors in the marketplace. With Primo Good to Go, we further differentiate ourselves by adding an innovative alternative to single-serve water bottles,” Fogg says. “We built the Primo brand by encouraging responsibility for healthier lives and a healthier world, and Primo Good to Go enables us to further drive that commitment by providing consumers with pure water in an environmentally friendly package that fits into their lifestyles—no matter where they may be.”

Primo’s Good to Go bags are available in select HEB and Walmart locations as they begin distribution nationally. Each bag is equipped with our patented 2Pure film technology and our ergonomic FlexTap, which work together to promise consumers shelf-stable water that tastes clean and fresh—all while protecting the environment.

Better for You. Better for the Environment.

Even if a product is recyclable, it doesn’t matter if it ends up in a landfill. Plastic bottles might seem like a sustainable packaging solution, but with seven out of ten bottles ending up as waste, it’s imperative we utilize better packaging options.

Primo is dedicated to safety and takes their mission seriously, going beyond what’s in your water, and their partnership with Scholle IPN to reduce plastic waste demonstrates their commitment to sustainability. By using our 2Pure film and Flextap for bag-in-box, we were able to help Primo:

• Tangibly reduce the amount of plastic that ends up in landfills and oceans
• Provide fresh, clean water to its customers that is taint- and odor-free
• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 36%
• Cut back on post-consumer waste by 66%
• Create new systems for getting water quickly safely to communities in need

There are few things more important than access to safe drinking water. Primo takes the responsibility of ensuring access to water seriously—and builds on that commitment by working with Scholle IPN to design a solution that is also environmentally sustainable. Bag-in-box packaging can yield myriad shipping, environmental, and source reduction solutions, and we’re ready to help you find the best solution for your business—be it in an industrial, institutional, or retail setting.

As a result of the pandemic, consumers now place significantly more value on food safety and hygiene and see sustainability as increasingly important as we emerge from the crisis, according to a recent McKinsey survey1. ProducePack Punnet offers growers and retailers the opportunity to cater to increased consumer demand for hygiene while also prioritizing sustainability.

Designed with optimum operational efficiency in mind, ProducePack Punnet can be top-sealed at speeds equivalent to traditional plastic punnets. The sustainable solution works with existing machinery and tooling for plastic trays, meaning that minimal investment is required for packers looking to make the switch to paperboard.

For brands and retailers, the pack has been proven to offer equivalent shelf life to plastic for certain produce items while reducing the potential for food waste. A range of board and barrier options is available, which have all been selected to ensure the package remains robust in cold storage and throughout the supply chain. ProducePack Punnet can be supplied formed or flat, the latter offering CO2 reductions in transit due to higher punnet tray volume per truckload.

In line with Graphic Packaging’s Design for the Environment (DfE) approach, its features can be customized to suit various markets and potential applications. From tomatoes to berries and more, the unique solution ensures sustainability is at the forefront at each stage of the manufacturing process. ProducePack Punnet can also be graphically printed to maximize branding opportunities without the need for additional labelling.

Elodie Bugnicourt, sustainability manager at Graphic Packaging International, said: “ProducePack Punnet delivers a 90 percent reduction in plastic when compared to polypropylene or polyester trays, and a 100 percent reduction if a barrier coating is not necessary for the application. It is expected to provide carbon footprint reduction versus standard fossil plastic trays and a much greater circularity with an average paperboard recycling rate of more than double that of plastics, on average, in most countries. The interest we received in ProducePack was extraordinary following its launch earlier this year. ProducePack Punnet now extends the range to new applications such as berries, enabling our customers to reap the environmental benefits of paperboard packaging in a wider variety of fresh produce applications.”

Ricardo De Genova, Graphic Packaging’s SVP, global innovation and new business development, added: “As growers and producers look to move towards recyclable fiber-based solutions, they can count on our expertise to deliver value-added innovation as well as like-for-like functionality versus traditional plastic trays. Aligned with our Vision 2025 and DfE methodology, this launch is another example of how we can partner with customers to accelerate the transition to a more circular economy.”

People with disabilities are the largest minority group in the world. In the United States alone, one in four people have a disability, yet beauty and personal care products often overlook their challenges and needs. As the world’s no.1 antiperspirant and deodorant brand, Degree is taking action to change this. Degree – also sold as Rexona, Sure and Shield in different countries – believes movement has the power to transform lives and that everyone should be able to experience the incredible physical, mental and social benefits it can bring, whoever you are and however you move.

Limited sight or arm mobility can make twisting a deodorant cap, turning a stick or pressing a spray a challenge, and sometimes fear of sweating without antiperspirant protection can prevent people with disabilities from moving as much as they would like to. That’s why Degree has worked with a diverse team of experts to put the specific needs of consumers with disabilities at the forefront of a new concept: Degree Inclusive, the world’s first adaptive deodorant.

Features that put accessibility first

Degree Inclusive’s hooked container is designed for one-handed usage. Enhanced grip placement and magnetic ‘click’ closures make it easier for users with limited grip or sight to remove and replace the cap. A larger roll-on applicator means the product reaches a greater surface area per swipe. The label also includes instructions in braille.

In partnership with the Muscular Dystrophy Association, non-profit organisations Open Style Lab and The Lighthouse Chicago, and a panel of engineers, designers and occupational therapists, Degree invited 200 consumers with a range of physical disabilities to trial its prototype roll-on. Their feedback will be applied to help improve the product for its future commercial launch.

“As a brand that’s committed to inspiring confidence in everyone to move more, Degree believes no one should be held back from breaking a sweat and enjoying the transformative benefits of movement,” says Kathryn Swallow, Global Degree Brand Vice President.

“More than 60 million people in the US live with a disability, yet products and experiences are still not designed with this community in mind. With Degree Inclusive, we hope to inspire bold action across the industry to ensure that people with disabilities have an equal playing field.”

To learn more about Degree Inclusive and the brand’s long-term commitment to equitable access to movement for all, visit www.degreedeodorant.com.