In November, 2009, Dell unveiled its newest innovation into “green”, sustainable packaging: bamboo.
The packaging sustainability initiative has been growing exponentially over the past decade. More companies have started to migrate away from the use of environmental contaminants, like PVC, and have started to make the push into more environmentally friendly plastics.
From a protective packaging standpoint, foams and molded pulp have long been the traditional packaging material. With the green push, molded pulp has become more and more prevalent throughout electronic industries.
Bamboo has been deemed a highly sustainable resource due to its ability to re-grow to full term within 2
-3 years, whereas trees generally take nearly 20 years to grow before they can be consumed for paper usage. As more companies turn to bamboo, I imagine it would help drive down the cost of molded inserts, which could then create a significant cost savings opportunity for multiple industries.
From a packaging engineer’s perspective, it will be interesting to watch and track the performance of this new protective packaging. The performances of foams and pulp have been known and tested for decades, but I would be curious to see how much, if any, testing has been done related to the performance of molded bamboo, especially with highly sensitive and expensive electronics.
Bamboo has been deemed a highly sustainable resource due to its ability to re-grow to full term within 2
-3 years, whereas trees generally take nearly 20 years to grow before they can be consumed for paper usage. As more companies turn to bamboo, I imagine it would help drive down the cost of molded inserts, which could then create a significant cost savings opportunity for multiple industries.
From a packaging engineer’s perspective, it will be interesting to watch and track the performance of this new protective packaging. The performances of foams and pulp have been known and tested for decades, but I would be curious to see how much, if any, testing has been done related to the performance of molded bamboo, especially with highly sensitive and expensive electronics.
Bamboo wood flooring has also been on the rise, due to its high sustainability rating and unique look, so it’s no wonder that the packaging industry has caught on to this exceptional plant as well!
See more about Dell’s sustainability push here: http://content.dell.com/us/en/corp/d/corp-comm/earth-products-packaging.aspx
*Photo courtesy of Dell
This is a very latest and a new concept in the market which is called the Bamboo Packaging. This is the first packaging strategy which is lead by Dell Micro Systems and it is accomplished very successfully.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a great step forward in identifying innovative alternatives to "green", sustainable packaging. This is definitely some out-of-the-box thinking. Can't wait for more innovative, sustainable materials are trialed and tested!
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