Experts Needed for New Global Environmental Standards for
Packaging
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Packaging and Other “Green”
Topics to be Discussed During TIA Seminar on Environmental
Sustainability During Toy Fair 2010
GROWING GREEN: A Toy Industry Update on
Environmental Sustainability and Bottom Line Growth will be held
from 3:00 – 4:30 pm on Monday, February 15, 2010, at the Jacob
Javits Convention Center in New York City. Advance registration is encouraged (free for
TIA members; $149 for non-members).
Chaired by Danny Grossman, chair of the TIA
Environmental Sustainability committee and CEO of Wild Planet
Entertainment, the seminar will feature a presentation by Laura
Phillips, vice president of toys at Walmart. Ms. Phillips will
discuss Walmart’s Packaging Scorecard, Sustainability Index and
recent Green Business Summit. Also on the agenda will be a
discussion of the toy industry’s definition of sustainability; key
environmental updates in the legislative and regulatory arenas; updates
for toy factories, and considerations in transportation and logistics,
and a panel presentation with members of the TIA Environmental
Sustainability Committee on “How Doing Good Also Benefits the
Bottom Line.”
The seminar follows the launch of an extensive
TIA member self-assessment survey covering the areas of environmental
strategy and policy, manufacturing, product and packaging, and
transportation and logistics. The survey will launch by
mid-January 2010.
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A new committee of the International Organization for
Standardization (ISO) Technical Committee (TC) 122, Packaging, has been
formed to develop proposed environmental standards for packaging based
on established European Norms (EN) and proposed Asian guidelines.
ISO/TC 122/SC 4, Packaging and Environment,
aims to develop a series of ISO standards to provide guidance on how to
best utilize packaging resources while maintaining packaging
functionality and considering environmental effects. The seven standards
that will be included in the series address general requirements, source
reduction, reuse, recycling, energy recovery, chemical recovery and
organic recovery. The SC expects the standards to be approved and
published in 2012.
U.S. involvement in these standards will be coordinated by a
new American
National Standards Institute (ANSI)–accredited U.S.
Technical Advisory Group (TAG).
This new ISO initiative is of particular interest as the toy industry
moves toward reducing its carbon footprint.
“Throughout the industry, manufacturers are continually looking
for inventive ways to attract consumers while reducing costs of
packaging and inserts, considering how those materials will be disposed,
and their effect on the environment,” said Elizabeth Borrelli, TIA
vice president for corporate social responsibility. “This
new ISO initiative offers the toy industry an opportunity to combine our
efforts with those of other manufacturing industries and environmental
stakeholders.”
The first meeting of the SC, held in December 2009 in Stockholm,
Sweden, had strong U.S. participation. Twelve U.S. representatives
attended, with Marilyn Baker of Coca-Cola serving as head of the U.S.
delegation. U.S. experts will be serving in leadership roles in three of
the seven working groups formed to develop the proposed standards.
Interested U.S. stakeholders are encouraged to get involved through
MH10.4, the U.S. TAG to SC 4 that is being administrated by the Material Handling Industry
of America (MHIA), an ANSI member and accredited standards
developer. MH10.4 has formed seven Task Groups (TGs) to pursue U.S. work
on each of the standards. The TAG is currently soliciting additional
subject matter experts with an interest in serving as active
participants in the Task Groups. For more information or to
participate in one of the U.S. Task Groups, please contact Mike Ogle (mogle@mhia.org).
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