by Allison Elliot

One-third of American garbage is packaging materials, according to the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington.

“And there’s not necessarily a good reason for it. Many companies are simply following convention and haven’t looked into better ways to package their products,” says Terry Grist of the EPA.

Products seem to be delivered to the consumer in ever more packaging these days. And the consumer is forced to pay for it in the end - not just environmentally but financially as well. Tax dollars go to pay to reuse or recycle excess packaging - or to truck it to a landfill site.

There are many who think that it should be the manufacturer’s responsibility to pay for the cost of dealing with the over packaging. It is seen as the only way to make them minimize their packaging, in turn that would minimize the need for waste disposal and municipal recycling programs.

For most businesses, packaging is a one way system. The manufacturer sends the package out the door and they will never deal with it again. Businesses that now sell in Europe are having to do things differently. More than ten years ago Germany was the first European country to require that manufacturers pay into the cost of handling the waste stream. Because they have to pay to get rid of it, there is no incentive to double-pack items or go needlessly glossy.

Aaran Stephens, owner of Nature’s Path Cereals, a Canadian company, now sells his product in recyclable bags. “Because we sell our product in Germany, and they said ‘You have to have everything recyclable. You have to take responsibility for the waste that you produce’”

Stephens says one benefit of reducing the packaging for the German market is that domestic sales have soared. Less packaging can also mean lower costs for consumers. It costs 20 percent less than its main competitor.

In this country both business and government are getting more active in the area of packaging reduction. The State of Maryland has given out several awards to business that have successfully reduced their packaging.

Smithfield Foods, Inc., is the world’s largest producer of pork products. Smithfield has many processing plants in the State of Maryland. In 2003, the company set a corporate-wide standard for Environmental Management Systems (EMS). EMS’s require each of the facilities to assess their total environmental impacts and commit to a process of continual improvement.

The results are impressive. The re-design of their cardboard boxes eliminated 4.3 million pounds of cardboard material per year. Their plastic recycling efforts kept 32 tons of plastic from the landfill each month, saving them at least $100,000 per year in waste disposal costs from plastic recycling. As Bill Jones, Plant Manager of the Landover Division, points out, “As a plant manager, you always ask, ‘Is this going to cost us a fortune?’ My response is that these measures have saved us a fortune.”

Wal-Mart has recently made news when they launched a series of environmentally friendly programs. The following is from the Wal-Mart website:

When shopping at Wal-Mart or even at your local grocery store, you may have noticed that your favorite laundry detergent now comes in a smaller bottle. Why? It’s all part of Wal-Mart’s effort to sell products that conserve our natural resources. These concentrated detergents will still wash the same number of loads as your traditional bottle-they will just use less water and less packaging to do it…

Over the next three years, we estimate that the impact of this effort will save more than 400 million gallons of water, more than 95 million pounds of plastic resin, and more than 125 million pounds of cardboard.

It seems that whether businesses start to reduce packaging because it is required of them or because they have found ways to save money, the trend will surely continue.

The Friends of Delta County Recycling encourages you to find ways to reduce how much packaging you bring home and throw out. Here’s just a few tips.

• When you have a choice, buy the product with the least (or most environmentally-friendly) packaging.  Manufacturers pay close attention to packaging changes and resulting sales.
• Recycle or creatively reuse the plastics you buy. Some plastic containers are perfect for sorting nuts and bolts, or buttons and beads.
• Buy unpackaged goods from food co-ops or local farmer’s markets.
• Buy in bulk using your own recycled plastic containers or bags.

Call the Friends of Delta County recycling information line at 399-2940, or go to our website at wwww.deltacountyrecycling.org to stay up-to-date on recycling news.