100% Recyclable Material in Manufacturer’s PACjacket3™ Automated Packaging System Takes Aim at 6 Million Ton Increase in Household Waste Over the Holidays
(SEATTLE, WA) – With between $128 billion and $134 billion in holiday e-commerce transactions forecasted this season,* trash bins will be overflowing with discarded packaging — much of it non-recyclable. Thanks to the innovative engineering minds at Seattle-headquartered flexible packaging manufacturer PAC Worldwide Corporation, that mountain of material can now be reduced to a molehill.
The company’s breakthrough PACjacket3 automated system produces a light-weight, durable bubble mailer with material that is 100% recyclable and conforms to labeling guidelines for the industry’s eco-friendly How2Recycle program. No more polystyrene peanuts or nylon-infused bubble-wrap that lie for decades in landfills. Considering that global couriers are expected to deliver more than one billion packages during the holidays — well over 50 million per day during the peak — the opportunities to decrease waste at scale are immense.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, municipal solid waste systems handle 25% more waste than normal during the holidays**. PAC Worldwide, along with a customer base that includes some of the biggest brands in online retail, are leading the movement to reduce that number through sustainable packaging solutions.
The PACjacket3 system features a multi-layer blend of co-extruded polyethylene film to form the package exterior. Then, utilizing its uniquely reduced profile, the recyclable material then wraps around package contents through a fully automated single web system. Equipment design features include a right-sizing fiber optic eye sensor, a dual sensor safety system, as well as a pneumatic roll lift and end-of-roll sensor.
While sustainability advocates champion the PACjacket3’s 100% recyclable feature, efficiency experts are buzzing about advances in package quality and throughput. The single-web design minimizes the number of heat seals necessary to produce a highly secure finished package. That and other engineering advancements enable this third-generation system to achieve throughput speeds up to 25% faster than previous iterations.
Chief Sales Officer Steve Foster said, “The customer feedback on our PACJacket3 program has been more than impressive. We knew we had a great solution that would provide substantial labor and material cost reduction in addition to offering a more favorable environmental impact than what is currently available. The overwhelming response we have received simply validates that PACJacket3 is a total solution that our customers have been seeking for quite some time.”
*source: Deloitte
**source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
