PET Offers a Viable Alternative to PVC Packaging
Wal-Mart has committed to phasing out PVC in all of their private label packaging. They, along with most major retailers, are under intense pressure from consumer advocacy groups to purge PVC from their shelves. If you have not yet encountered pressure from your channel partners to eliminate PVC packaging, you may soon.
Phasing out PVC packaging could be a nightmare for manufacturers;
Thankfully the Transparent Container PET Combo Program offers a solution.
The Pressure Is On
There has been some controversy surrounding the use of PVC over the last few years. Whether or not you consider these concerns about PVC to be overstated, there’s no getting around this issue. Consumer advocacy groups are putting the pressure on retailers to eliminate PVC from their shelves, and they are eager to respond to the concerns of their customers. That means they will be pressuring their suppliers to find an alternative to the popular PVC blister.
Manufacturers have come to depend heavily on PVC blister packaging. It has proven to be a very effective, budget-friendly way to display a wide variety of products. Finding an alternative to something that has worked so well for so long is, understandably, a challenge few would welcome. But this is an issue that you may need to consider soon. There’s a viable alternative to PVC that effectively eliminates this problem. PET (polyethylene terephtalate) is that alternative.
A Viable Solution
PET is the plastic most commonly used in drinking water and soft drink bottles. It is chemically stable and viewed as being more environmentally friendly than PVC, and because it requires far fewer additives, it is well suited for recycling. Best of all, it is a viable replacement for PVC in most packaging applications.
Because we anticipated the growing demand for PET packaging, Transparent Container is leading the industry in offering blisters and other packaging forms in PET. The chart at the bottom of this page shows a side-by-side comparison between PVC and PET in the manufacture of blisters. As you can see, there are few significant differences. While the material cost is slightly higher for PET, its strength may allow you to down-gauge from 15 to 10 mil, depending on the size and design of the part.
Another way to mitigate the additional cost of PET is to take advantage of Transparent Container’s ComboBlister™ program. In our ComboBlister™ program, similar customer orders are combined so each customer can enjoy greater economies of scale that reduce their costs. Our ComboBlister™ program has been used effectively for PVC blister production, and now we also offer that option for PET blisters. For most of the PET packaging we produce, including all ComboBlister™ orders, we use a high quality recycled PET stock that is both environmentally friendly and economical.
Because blister production using PET is a relatively new process, compared to PVC, it’s hard to say for certain that it will perform as well on your production line as PVC. But by tapping our extensive experience in blister packaging, you should expect a PET blister from Transparent Container to fully meet your expectations.
Many of today’s leading CPG companies have already started phasing out PVC packaging. No one likes having change forced upon them. Fortunately, thanks to the availability of PET (and an innovative supplier like Transparent Container), this is one instance where such a change can be virtually painless.
For more information about the use of PET in our ComboBlister™ program, contact your Transparent Container representative or call 888.449.8520.
