Standard VI
Action Research Project
Topic for 2020–2021
Ecofriendly / Sustainable Packaging Or Packing
Introduction: Packing is selecting and using proper material
You must have heard about ‘PEANUT’, the for placing product for transport and storage to
turtle who suffered because it got entangled in ensure safety but not for a display. A person can
the ring of a six-pack holder. It did continue to also pack clothes and other goods for a holiday
grow but lost aerodynamic shape of the body or moving to a new house.
and became vulnerable to predator attacks. You Words ‘packing and packaging’ are confusing
might also have heard about how in Iceland ‘Say because they both start the same way with the
no to toothpaste with a box’ movement made root word being pack and they both are used in
manufacturers change the packaging strategy. the same context. The difference between packing
How many of us pack paratha in aluminium and packaging is that the ‘packing’ provides the
foil or sandwich in a cling film? Even such habits protective wrapping of goods to transport but do
add considerable volume to solid waste over a not display the products. ‘Packaging’ is used for
period of time. Or our general observation is that, the protection of goods but also display it for the
we cannot squeeze out the last bit of toothpaste retail market.
or facewash or sunscreen from the plastic tube
and it simply goes waste. The amount of packing Objectives of packing
materials we receive from online delivery is huge and packaging:
as compared to actual material ordered. To Provide Physical Protection: Packaging
With increasing urbanisation and changing of objects ensures that they are protected against
lifestyle, packing and packaging has become an vibration, temperature, shock, compression,
important part of our lives for delivery of goods. deterioration in quality etc. Packing and
But it is proving to be a necessary evil. We need packaging also protect the products against theft,
to find out sustainable solution for this. leakage, pilferage, breakage, dust, moisture,
bright light etc.
Packing and Packaging: To Provide Convenience: Packing and
Meaning: Packaging is the science, art, and packaging also add to the convenience in handling,
technology of enclosing or protecting products display, opening, distribution, transportation,
for distribution, storage, sale and use. Packaging storage, sale, use, reuse and disposal. Packages
also refers to the process of design, evaluation with easy to carry handles, soft squeezed tubes,
and production of packages. In short, Packaging metallic containers, conveniently placed nozzles
can be described as a coordinated system of etc. are all examples of this.
preparing goods for transport, warehousing, To Provide Containment: Small objects are
logistics, sale and end use. typically put together in one package for reasons
156 Dr. Homi Bhabha Balvaidnyanik Competition | Standard VI | English Medium
of efficiency and economy. For example, a single Advantages of Packing
bag of 1000 marbles require less physical handling and Packaging:
than 1000 single marbles. Liquids, powders, The primary packaging advantage is to
granular materials etc. need containment. protect the product in various ways, including:
To Provide Portion Control: In the medicinal Keeping products fresh longer: Many food
and pharmaceutical field, the precise amount of products — from bread to cookies — stay fresher
contents is needed to control usage. It also helps when sealed in packaging.
in the control of inventory. Preventing breakage and wear-and-
tear: Packaging keeps fluids like ink and perfume
Objectives of packaging: from evaporating. Paper becomes discoloured
To Enable Marketing: Good packaging along and glue unusable when exposed to the air, but
with attractive labelling are used by sellers to keeps for years in its packaging. Items that could
promote the products to potential buyers. The be sold without packaging — like stuffed animals
shape, size, colour, appearance etc. are designed and other toys — are shielded from the dings and
to attract the attention of potential buyers. dirt they encounter during shipping or sitting on
To Convey Message: Information relating to store shelves.
the raw materials used, the type of manufacturing Making shipping easier: There are distinct
process, usage instructions, use by date etc. are advantages of packaging in logistics. Items that
all very important and should be conveyed to the are boxed can be stacked and transported more
users. Manufacturers print such information on easily than those that are loose.
the packages. Apart from this packaging also helps
To Enable Product Identification: Packing in arranging display as well as selection of
and packaging enable a product to have its own product.
identity. This is done by designing a unique and Packing that fulfils the objectives and
distinct package through the effective use of advantage criteria can be considered good
colours, shapes, graphics etc. Such identification packing or packaging. A good packaging should
and distinction are very essential in the present be attractive at the same time easy to handle
situation of intense competition and product and dispose off too. It should be economical in
clutter. E. g. Calcium Sandoz bottles, Kinderjoy. terms of cost, weight and environmental effects.
To Enhance Profits: Since consumers are It should display information regarding contents,
willing to pay a higher price for neatly packaged handling, safety measures, cost, expiry date etc.
goods, there will be higher profit realization. Materials used: Different types of materials
Moreover, packaged goods reduce the cost of might be used for packing or packaging.
handling, transportation, distribution etc. and Wood, metals, plastics, paper, glass,
also cut down wastage and thereby increase earthenware, gunny bags, straw baskets,
profits. polyester etc. are a few examples. Selection
To Enable Self-Service Sales: The present of material depends on several factors apart
trend in retailing is effective display and self- from budget or estimated production cost.
service sales. Products require effective packing It depends on the nature of product (liquid,
for self-service sales. solid etc.), shelf life, temperature, distance to
To Enhance Brand Image: Attractive packing be covered for delivery, transport facilities,
and packaging in a consistent manner over a long climate etc.
time enhances the brand image of the product. A packing or packaging may be made up
of single material like plastic bottle or mixed
Dr. Homi Bhabha Balvaidnyanik Competition | Standard VI | English Medium 157
material like Tetra packs or notebook cover or when handled in the store.
cover of paperback version of a book. Difficulty of recycling: Some communities
don’t provide recycling; those that do require
Types of Packaging: households to follow rules such as collapsing
Basic classification can be given as Primary, boxes, making sure items are clean of food debris
secondary and tertiary packaging. and leaving lids on or removing them, etc. When
Primary packaging is the wrapping or container people don’t follow these rules, it requires manual
handled by consumer. handling of materials which is costly and slows
Secondary packaging is corrugated boxes or down the process.
similar containers used to group primary packages Mixed material packaging is difficult to
and packing material like bubble wrap etc that is recycle, though it is energy efficient. Ex. Tetra
used to keep primary packages in place without packs.
damage. Packaging requires extra room in shipping:
Tertiary packaging includes wooden pellets While square and rectangular-shaped boxes stack
or containers that carry secondary packages neatly and efficiently, they do take up more room.
together. It also adds to weight of the product. For E. g.
a 400 g cereal box like corn flex or oats, ratio of
Points to be considered while designing a package weight to product is almost 23%!
package: Reducing packaging affects perceptions: The
l D esign, Appearance, Convenience, Reuse, push to use less packaging — which saves cost
Cost. and raw materials — also makes consumers
Tests a packaging has to go through before think they’re getting less product, even when the
being selected: amounts are the same, but larger packaging was
Several tests like Drop test, Vibration tests, previously used to give the appearance of greater
Rolling test, Inclined impact test etc. are carried value.
out to check Landfill impact: Packaging is responsible for
Durability of the material to be used: about one third of the municipal waste. Some
Packaging is also tested for corrosion by salt waste can be recycled, but many materials are
spray or penetration of sand and dust or even not appropriate for recycling. Post-consumer
catching moisture in rains. recycled content is often usable only in specific
contexts. For instance, many types of recycled
Disadvantages of Packing plastic may not be used in food containers, even
and Packaging: if the original plastic came from food containers.
While packaging does improve safety, offer Much of the waste produced by packaging ends
convenience and reduce theft, it also comes with up in a landfill.
a number of disadvantages Overpackaging: Over-Packaging describes a
Cost: The more it costs to package a product, product that is wrapped in multiple layers of
the higher will be the consumer price. materials, that is either unnecessary or unwanted.
Durability of some materials: Generally, the An example of this is wrapping a small item in
cheapest materials are also the least durable, plastic, surrounding it with an air cushion, placing
like paper and plastic. Flexible packaging such it in a box, and then placing that box into a
as paper, cardboard and thin plastic — like those larger box for distribution. This leads to increase
that allow “windows” to see the product — can in cost, shipping load and most importantly
be crushed, dented or torn during shipping or proves harmful for the environment. With the
158 Dr. Homi Bhabha Balvaidnyanik Competition | Standard VI | English Medium
boom of E-commerce in the 21st century, the The ‘3 R’ mantra has to be applied here too.
amount of packaging used for the transport of Reduce proves better than Reuse and Reuse
goods has dramatically increased. Most online better than Recycle.
store are found to be guilty for supplying more e can select product with minimal packing
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packaging material than necessary for a product. and packaging
The food industry also contributes negatively to euse the material received as packing or
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the environment. An example is a dozen apples packaging. E.g. gone are the days where people
encased in a plastic clamshell. While there are used to clean milk bags and reuse those. Or
benefits to this, the negative effects on the choose an online vendor that has take-away
environment outweigh the benefits by far. policy for packing material.
Production footprint: Packaging also euse is better because it reduces the utilisation
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use resources in production. One pound of of resources that might happen in recycling.
polystyrene (Styrofoam) uses about two pounds ecycling is better than adding waste in
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of petroleum stock. Production also requires landfills. Some packaging materials can be
energy, usually sourced from burning fossil fuels recycled an infinite number of times, others
and may produce air and water pollution. E. just 2 or 3 times. Let’s break down the lifespan
g. using glass bottles is eco-friendly as long as of some of the most commonly used packaging
glass is reused. For production of glass, silica is materials:
required. Sand is a resource. Also, transporting l Paper – 5 to 7 times
sand to the factory and conversion of sand to l Cardboard – 3 to 4 times
glass needs lot of energy that is derived mostly l Glass – Infinite
from fossil fuels. l Plastic – Once
The direct or indirect impacts of packaging l Polystyrene – Once
on the environment include soil degradation, luminium, copper and other metals –
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water pollution and the sharp reduction of scarce Infinite
resources such as forests, solid waste pollution
and toxic chemical pollution. It seriously affects Some examples of innovative recycling:
the sustainable utilisation of resources and ike, a leading sportswear company uses plastic
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environment. to kit out the U.S. National Soccer Team and
The large amount of waste returned by every team uniform is made from at least 16
oceans we see on seaside mainly after stormy plastic bottles for its shirts, socks and shorts
weather, actually originates from land-based since 2010.
resources. It mainly comprises of packages l se of corrugated sheets for making foldable
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thoughtlessly disposed on land. One of the beds for isolation wards in COVID 19 pandemic
reasons is unavailability of proper disposal is another good example.
stations and ignorance. The victims of this waste l ollection of plastic by Mr. Kaustubh
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are innocent animals like Peanut the turtle or Tamhankar from Thane for production
any stray herbivore that consumes plastic. of packaging material used as for stuffing
What is the solution? secondary packages.
Society has learned the hard way that
convenient packaging was inconvenient to the Ecofriendly / sustainable packaging or packing:
planet. The only probable solution is to try to Eco-friendly or Green packaging is biodegradable,
minimise packing and packaging materials and recyclable, reusable, non-toxic, made from recycled
go for sustainable options. products, based on biomass or natural products
Dr. Homi Bhabha Balvaidnyanik Competition | Standard VI | English Medium 159
or manufactured through low-impact means. It is l Mention those in the project.
advantageous because it is biodegradable or made PART 2
from more sustainable, faster-replenishing natural bserve various packing/ packaging materials
l O
products like bamboo. Bamboo, for instance, can and designs of various products around
be harvested for paper and other materials every you. It may be at home like bottles/tubes/
two-to-three years, versus upwards of 60 years sachets/boxes etc. or at malls or at fast food
for a new tree to grow. restaurants like pizza/burger stalls. It can be
anything from packaging for food material/
Some examples of eco-friendly packing and toileteries/cleaners/stationery items/clothes/
packaging: shoes/jewellery etc.
raditional method of packing food in leaves of
l T elect any one and suggest improved design to
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canna or banana or Palash and Sal leaves. avoid wastage or improvement or sustainable
ld Milk bottle system of Aarey, the example
l O option for packaging material.
of reusable packing and return policy of the ake care that the solution is economically
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manufacturer. viable and materials are locally available.
ompostable sauce sachets made up of
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seaweeds OR
l Newspaper egg carton PART 2
eusable shoe box cum bag by Puma. Reducing
l R l uggest innovative way of reuse or recycling of
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resources for packaging any one of the packing or packaging material.
lantable packaging made up of biodegradable
l P l Write report.
materials impregnated with organic seeds.
l Edible water bubbles
Designing zero wastage container/dispenser Please note:
can be another aspect of reducing waste. For l here are TWO parts of the project. Both
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E. g. mechanical dispenser for toothpaste that have to be done.
used to be a part of Indian households to squeeze l art 1 of the project is common for all projects.
P
out last bit of toothpaste. It needs to be done at home.
A kitchen tissue dispenser gives away a large l ou can choose ANY 1 option from the options
Y
piece of towel which may not be necessary every given as Part 2.
time. Thus, can be improved. These are a few l emember the main theme of the project is
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examples. packing and packaging. Your work MUST be
related to packing or packaging.
What students have to do: l e need to find solution to the issue. We are
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Read the information thoroughly NOT focussing on effects of this material on
PART 1 environment under the theme suggested.
tudy the packing and packaging waste created
l S l onsidering pandemic, avoid survey. If
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at your home. necessary, you can use ‘Google Forms’ to
ind out the possibilities of reducing these.
l F conduct the survey. You can conduct interviews
This can be done in several ways like, selecting if required, telephonically.
products with least packaging/ changing Ref.: www.google.com
packing habits/avoiding small packages
of snacks/reduce online shopping where
unnecessary packaging waste reaches home.
160 Dr. Homi Bhabha Balvaidnyanik Competition | Standard VI | English Medium
