Dematerializing Packaging

Lock n' Pop Has Long Been a Leader in Packaging Reduction

By Rosanna Cavanaugh

Reducing or eliminating corner boards, tier sheets, and stretch film is an achievable sustainable goal for many applications.

In the 1970s, the concept of palletized shipping was coming into its own. The U.S. was becoming less regional and more continental and more global. Increased coefficient of friction (COF) was no longer sufficient to hold loads together; bonding the surfaces of the packages together to prevent movement was starting to catch on. The problem was using standard adhesives typically resulted in torn packages or unsightly residue.

Lock n' Pop entered this arena with innovative solutions. Using the concept of high shear strength and low tensile strength, the ability to break bonds without disrupting the packaging surface became the central core of its product development efforts. The entry of Lock n' Pop coincided with the entry of stretch wrap.

In the beginning, film technology coupled with wrapping equipment needed was a high cost investment, and consumables were expensive too. In those early years Lock n' Pop enjoyed an early market lead. Stretch wrap film's one advantage was its ability to contain loads regardless of surface structure or dimension. As film became cheaper, wrapping became a more conventional method of unitizing, and remains so today.

A new dawning era

Now enter the era of sustainable packaging. The original Lock n' Pop product was a very earth-friendly material. Water-based and composed primarily of plant derived polymers, it was ahead of its time. Always part of their direction, Lock n' Pop took into account product composition and marketing message as part of an environmental solution for pallet load stabilization. More than just green "feel good," from early days, Lock n' Pop touted its benefit of reducing packaging waste. They were doing life cycle analysis (LCA) as part of development 10 years before it became standard practice.

Over time, more Lock n' Pop products were developed to deal with different surfaces and different application conditions. Some of the products developed did not stay true to the original—using only sustainable materials for the main ingredients. At one point, as poly film bags were becoming popular, solvents such as cyclohexane and 1,1,1-Trichloroethane were included in the Lock n' Pop line.

After several successful years of producing and selling these unnatural products, Lock n' Pop made the decision to eliminate them, primarily because they were not in keeping with the basic premise that Lock n' Pop products should be directly in line with environmental ethics. From a different perspective, dealing with the regulatory aspects of these types of hazardous materials was also costly in dollars and cents. Although Lock n' Pop gave up some fairly profitable products, they also gave up a lot of headaches.

New products designed for use for freezing applications included petrochemical glycols. These are now being replaced in favor of newer formulas which have been able to deal with cold conditions without use of the glycols. The formulas now use sustainable materials that meet requirements for being non-hazardous, biodegradable, re-pulpable, and compostable.

Looking past the dawn

Lock n' Pop looks at itself as a small company with a large job. They assist many companies that are among the largest processors in the world. The company finds ways to ship their loads safely while minimizing the use of extra materials that would normally be disposed of—such as stretch wrap, tier sheets, corner boards, and other dunnage.

Will Lock n' Pop ever replace all extra materials? No, but their goal is to eliminate materials wherever possible, reducing the amount of tertiary packaging companies currently use, and with a return on investment for application equipment in less than one year.

In trying to move further in their quest to be one of the most sustainable companies around, Lock n' Pop has partnered with www.carbonfund.org. All emissions from shipments of Lock n' Pop in the U.S. are being offset through reforestation or production of new renewable energy. Lock n' Pop is currently exploring renewable energy for its manufacturing site as well. In addition, it is looking at ways to package product so containers are easily reclaimable. Lock n' Pop, too, has come to discover that becoming a sustainable company takes on a life of its own, and found it a much more creative and exciting process than it would be without higher goals.

On Lock n' Pop's drawing board right now are products that are composed of "food grade" materials—materials that can be ingested without harm. Producing products that are safe for life, leaving barely an imprint on the earth, is ultimately how Lock n' Pop pictures the future. It believes companies that look for solutions and leverage the natural advantages of sustainable products create a healthier environment for their workers—and the rest of us, too. It's just simpler that way!

Rosanna Cavanaugh has been a part of Lock n' Pop (known in earlier times as Key Tech Corp) for approximately 20 years. She is an active member of IOPP, ISTA, and the American Chemical Society.