Clamshells evolved Thomas Jake Lunsford is credited with inventing the clamshell, although he called it a “Separable Packaging and Display System” when he filed for a patent on September 15, 1976. Clamshells look a bit like their namesake as they are made from two identical plastic "shells" that fit around the product and hinge on one side. When the sides are pressed together, snaps form a seal, some of them harder to unfasten than others. This Fruit Clamshells have been voted the best design ever, products inside clamshells line the shelves of retail stores and supermarkets. Product packaging generates more plastic waste than any other industry. In Europe it accounts for 59 percent of all plastic waste by weight. In the United States that is likely closer to 65 percent, experts say. The global packaging market is a $700-billion-a-year industry and growing at 5.6 percent per year. Plastics account for one-third of this, making packaging the largest single market for U.S. plastics. Clamshells like most Fruit packaging, are single-use plastics and while technically recyclable, few are recycled in the U.S. That needs to change quickly if product manufacturers and the plastics industry are to meet their commitments to recycle or recover all plastics and greatly increase their use of recycled plastic in packaging. berries Clamshell packaging remains popular with retailers because the product is visible on both sides, it can be hung or freestanding, and it’s harder to shoplift since the package is bigger than the product inside. It’s much lighter than cardboard or other alternatives—saving energy during transport—cheaper to make, and more durable. The food industry accounts for more than 60 percent of all clamshell packaging. “There’s a huge variety of clamshell and blister packaging, “ says Sara Greasley, who runs a popular blog about packaging and works in the industry. Blister packs are usually a clear bubble of plastic mounted on a piece of cardboard. Batteries are still sold this way. But the terms are often used interchangeably, so it can be confusing, Greasley said. The type of clamshell packaging used is usually driven by the retailers, particularly volume buyers like the club stores (i.e. Costco) who have specific packaging requirements, she said. For example packaging may have to withstand shaking, crushing, and dropping tests to ensure there’s no damage. Recyclable doesn't mean it will be The enormous variety and abundance of plastic packaging turns out to be a big headache for the recycling industry. “It’s a big challenge,” acknowledges Steve Alexander, President of The Association of Plastic Recyclers. “Clamshells are usually made out of PET plastic, so they are highly recyclable,” says Alexander. There is big demand for recycled PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) content in new clamshells, particularly those used in the food industry. However, clamshells aren’t being recycled because they aren’t being collected, and if collected, most existing material recovery facilities can’t sort them out from the other materials. And if they can sort them, sticky labels or food residues can be a problem to remove, as is the cardboard backing on blister packs, he said. The public is increasingly buying products that are more sustainable—and come in appropriate packaging—at twice the rate of other products, a 2018 survey showed.
December 23, 2021