A biodegradable plastic alternative and paper board folding cartons are some of the sustainable products on display at Pack Expo at McCormick Place.
The packaging trade show expects to draw 47,000 attendees this year.
"This is going to be a record year," said Jorge Izquierdo, the vice president of market development for PMMI, the Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies.
"Over 3,500 exhibitors."
Sustainability is a major focus at the show. New this year, the launch of Sustainability Central, the Sustainability Solutions Finder, the PACK EXPO Green program, and free educational sessions.
"Sustainability is key for packaging. It's one of the things that’s shaping the industry," said Izquierdo.
Nearly 400 million tons of plastic is produced around the world every year. According to the United Nations, only about 9% of it gets recycled.
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Companies like Solutum want to change that.
"We are eliminating plastic waste," said president and founder, Sharon Barak.
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Barak says her plastic alternative uses fewer materials but is stronger than plastic.
"It can biodegrade in water, in soil, can be composted, can be recycled."
At R.R. Donnelly & Son's booth, president of packaging and label, Lisa Pruett, shows off new packaging her Chicago-based company designed for a craft brewery in San Francisco.
"They switched from bottles to cans, and we worked with them to help them with new, sustainable packaging. And finding a recycled paper board for them as they made that change, which then had a lower environmental footprint and used less waste in the process," said Pruett.
"Folding cartons are made out of paper board. Paper board is renewable, recyclable, biodegradable and has a lower carbon footprint to produce."
Pruett says companies like hers want to be good stewards of the environment, but also customers are seeking out "green" products.
"Consumers are demanding it. They’re looking at the packaging when they're in the retail environment and wanting more sustainable packaging," said Pruett.
"We're smarter about that idea of design for recyclability. Many times, that involves making the packages smaller, cutting the flaps back, designing it so it uses less product. But also designing it, so through the manufacturing stream, it puts out less waste."
Pack Expo runs through Wednesday at McCormick Place.
