S.E.C.A.M.P. – SUSTAINABLE, ENVIRONMENTAL, CONSCIOUS APPROACH TO MACHINERY AND PACKAGING

Our Commitment to the Environment

We are members of alliances, conservancies, societies and enjoy our world. Nature inspires us with its beauty and its magnificence, and we are deeply committed to conservation. Because we want to preserve our world for generations to come, we try at all times to reduce waste of resources and energy, to reuse and recycle packaging run on our machines. Our S.E.C.A.M.P.™ project was an industry first.

 

S.E.C.A.M.P.™ is a 6 point strategy that relates to using less energy or clean energy, fewer packaging materials, and reduce costs in the manufacturing, warehousing and distribution of StandUp pouches, VialPaQs and trays.

1. Make multiple components and parts at one time to get efficiencies of scale including modules for the assembly of the machine.
2. Buy electricity and other utilities (gas) from environmental conscious suppliers who do not pollute the air with “greenhouse” gases.
3. Turn air compressors off after use and start changing pneumatic designs that allow machines to run at a lower psi. 70 psi is our standard.
4. Use stainless steel where possible and eliminate all painting in the machinery process.
5. Reduce electric cables and use more wireless technology.
6. Install our patented ControlSmart™ data monitoring camera type system to prevent the production of out-of-specification products at the customer.

The 7 R’s of Packaging

Wal-Mart and other large retailers are demanding their vendors keep their manufacturing processes as green as possible.

Remove Packaging: eliminate unnecessary packaging, extra boxes or layers
Reduce Packaging: “Right Size” packages and optimize material strength
Re-use Packaging: Pallets (use CHEP, IFCO etc.) and reusable plastic containers (RPC)
Renewable Packaging: Use materials made from renewable sources; select materials that are biodegradable or can be composted
Recyclable Packaging: Use materials made of the highest recycled content without compromising quality
Revenue: Achieve above principles at cost parity/cost savings
Read: Get educated on sustainability

Thinking About Our Future

Environmental Fact Sheet

• Last year Americans spent nearly $11 billion on 8 billion plus gallons of bottled water, and then discarded over 22 billion empty plastic bottles in the trash.
• 200,000 people a day are moving to cities from environments that no longer support them.
• Lighting accounts for 25 percent of North American electricity use.
• The Earth’s limited supply of natural resources will only be able to sustain 10 billion humans by 2100, bad news is, a world that already feeds 5.9 billion people is struggling to cope.
• USA uses over 80,000,000,000 Aluminum soda cans every year.
• The wind in North Dakota alone could produce a third of that state’s electricity.
• A single degree of over-heating or overcooling on an average college campus costs $100,000 a year.

• Recycling 1 ton of paper saves 17 trees, 2 barrels of oil (enough to run the average car for 1,260 miles) 4,100 kilowatts of energy (enough power for the average home for 6 months), 3.2 cubic yards of landfill space, and 60 pounds
  of air pollution.
• The U.S. is 5% of the world’s population but uses 25% of its natural resources.
• Florida residents dump enough trash every two weeks to fill the Astrodome and that has led FPL to invest in 14 incinerators and recover energy, and other products, from garbage.
• American consumers and industry throw away enough Aluminum in a yeartorebuild our entire airplane commercial fleet

Environmental Impact

Problems:

• Fuel prices will rise
• Energy demands increase daily
• Global energy crisis can occur at any time

Solutions:

• Harness solar energy
• Zero net energy consumption
• Create energy efficient/energy positive environments
• Use alternate fuels

• Use alternate transportation
• Use chemical-free cleaning products
• Implement the 7Rs strategy: Remove, Reduce, Re-use, Renew, Recycle, Revenue
  and read
• Aim for zero landfill

What We Do To Help

• Print on both sides of any print job
• Use other side of old printed paper for scrap
• Re-use all corrugated boxes for shipping spare parts
• off all lights. Use natural lighting wherever possible

• Recycle all paper, cans and bottles
• Turn off all monitors and computers at the end of the day
• Do not use styrofoam plates or cups
• Do not print e-mails that have pages already printed
• Use compact fluorescent lights
• Use programmable thermostats

• Use water-saving restrooms
• lights on/off
• Insulation around doors and windows save on air conditioning

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What’s in a name?

Understanding biopolymers can often be a challenge due to the confusion over terms. For example, while a plastic may be bio–based, it may not be biodegradable, or compostable, for that matter. Some bioplastics are recyclable, as are some petroleum-based plastics. And, some fossil fuel-based plastics can be biodegradable.

Following are definitions of some of the most often misunderstood terms: (See full glossary from European Bioplastics at pwgo.to/3175.)

Bio-based: A material or product that is (at least in part) derived from biomass.

Biodegradable: Biodegradation is a natural chemical process in which materials are being transformed into natural substances such as water, carbon, and biomass with the help of micro-organisms. The process of biodegradation depends on the environmental conditions as well as on the material or application itself. Biodegradability is linked to the structure of the polymer chain and does not depend on the origin of the raw materials.

Biomass: Material of biological origin, excluding material embedded in geological formations and material transformed to fossilized material. Biomass includes organic material, e.g. trees, crops, grasses, tree litter, algae, and waste of biological origin (e.g. manure). Biomass used for bioplastics is currently mainly derived from corn, sugarcane, or cellulose.

Bioplastics: Bioplastics constitute a broad range of materials and products that are bio–based, biodegradable/compostable, or both.

Compostability: A characteristic of a product that enables biodegradation under specific conditions (i.e. a certain temperature, time frame, etc.). At the end of this process, for example, in an industrial composting plant, only natural products remain (water, carbon, biomass). Currently, the distinction is made between industrial and home composting.

Designed for recycling does not equate to recycled: The only way to boost recycling rates and capture it all is by adding Robust recycling infrastructure to our recycling ecosystem. Robustness is the focus of the Consortium For Waste Circularity.