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Heinz’s sustainable ketchup cap

lumafield.com

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Re: Heinz’s sustainable ketchup cap

#241

Post by rad_gruchalski »

GuB-42 wrote: post #198
zcw100 wrote: post #150

I’m willing to bet this has nothing to do with recyclability and everything to do with less expensive manufacturing.

I hope it is less expensive. Cost savings often benefit sustainability. You probably heard the "reduce, reuse, recycle, in that order" thing. The "reduce" part also reduces costs. Here it looks like there is one less part (the silicone ring), which I believe makes it cheaper to build, cuts on supplies (no more need for silicone), and improves recyclability, which is good for the image and maybe some regulations. I do…

> I hope it is less expensive.

So do the shareholders. Less cost == more profit.

Re: Heinz’s sustainable ketchup cap

#243

Post by whycome »

ddejohn wrote: post #235
jrochkind1 wrote: post #223

> Currently only about 3% of PP products are being recycled in the United States, but it is becoming more widely accepted So now the relatively small amount of mass in the cap is just as recyclable as the bottle itself -- neither are actually going to be recycled. There's nothing to see here but marketing. And a an interesting engineering puzzle solved, sure. "How Big Oil Misled The Public Into Believing Plastic Woul…

Based on the title, I had originally assumed clicking on this thread that it would be about their glass bottles with the white metal caps.

And those caps were probably fully recyclable.

I expected to at least see photos of the cap and the one it's replacing.

Re: Heinz’s sustainable ketchup cap

#244

Post by woodruffw »

jgalt212 wrote: post #213
Hizonner wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You know what's more efficient than glass? Ship the product in bulk and dispense it into the customer's container. And a lot of products could actually be formulated on site, because most of, say, your cleaning aisle is various combinations of relatively few standard components. The biggest barrier there are certain people's desires to control information and to create the perception of distinctions that don't exist.

> You know what's more efficient than glass? Ship the product in bulk and dispense it into the customer's container. yeah, that would be a great use of everyone's time. line up at the olive oil station, line up at the beer station, line up at the flour station, line up at the coffee station, line up at the ketchup station, .... and then on top of that, add up the time and expense of everyone getting a different price…

Many (most?) nicer grocery stores in the US already do bulk packaging for coffee, to no discernible detrimental effect.

Compared to narrow aisles and decision paralysis from 60 different plastic bottles with the same ingredients but different scents/dyes, I think any inefficiencies in bulk shopping are probably pretty small.

Re: Heinz’s sustainable ketchup cap

#245

Post by numpad0 »

whycome wrote: post #243
ddejohn wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Based on the title, I had originally assumed clicking on this thread that it would be about their glass bottles with the white metal caps.

And those caps were probably fully recyclable. I expected to at least see photos of the cap and the one it's replacing.

I think this is about newer upside down bottles, the one that has a giant flip open cap with a gasket that don't open until the bottle is squeezed hard enough.

Re: Heinz’s sustainable ketchup cap

#246

Post by digging »

infecto wrote: post #170
bayindirh wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Glass is recycled infinitely more easily and more widely. Pasabahce sells upcycled and recycled products here, and mark them clearly. Also, we have glass collection bins which has different compartments for clear and colored glass. These are periodically emptied. Even if they are not recycled, a glass jar is used for more than five years in an household, only by replacing the caps in the process. If we don't need the…

That works in some parts of the world but I still don't believe the total environmental cost is as easy to calculate even in your scenario. The total cradle-to-grave environmental cost of a product has many variables and its not always as clear. Those variables can also have different weightings depending on the user (maybe microplastics is a greater concern that total environmental cost). In the past, even when acco…

What's the definition of environmental impact you're working with?

I think microplastic pollution is horrible. It's arguably worth putting extra carbon in the atmosphere to avoid plastic pollution. I'm not actually sure.

Re: Heinz’s sustainable ketchup cap

#247

Post by viasfo »

dontupvoteme wrote: post #133

Never knew i needed a CT scanner. Wonder how much this costs? Medically speaking they're pretty damn cheap (compared to other modalities anyway)

The company where that article is hosted sells the CT scanners used to create that scan. Starting at $75,000/year (industrial CT is much less expensive than medical)

Re: Heinz’s sustainable ketchup cap

#249

Post by ecshafer »

woodruffw wrote: post #244
jgalt212 wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You know what's more efficient than glass? Ship the product in bulk and dispense it into the customer's container. yeah, that would be a great use of everyone's time. line up at the olive oil station, line up at the beer station, line up at the flour station, line up at the coffee station, line up at the ketchup station, .... and then on top of that, add up the time and expense of everyone getting a different price…

Many (most?) nicer grocery stores in the US already do bulk packaging for coffee, to no discernible detrimental effect. Compared to narrow aisles and decision paralysis from 60 different plastic bottles with the same ingredients but different scents/dyes, I think any inefficiencies in bulk shopping are probably pretty small.

This might be a local thing for you. The only store around me that has bulk coffee is the very bougie food co-op. Even nice stores like whole foods, wegmans, trader joes don't have that.

Re: Heinz’s sustainable ketchup cap

#250

Post by bullfightonmars »

azemetre wrote: post #202
infecto wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its cheaper and easier to ensure sanitary products. We love to be romantic about glass but I don't think as easy of a calculation for the total environmental use. Glass is heavier and more expensive to transport. Glass is harder to shape into sizes that make for efficient transportation, for example Costco square milk jugs. I love to use glass when I can but I don't know if using this glass jar which may not even be…

Should plastic containers shedding millions of nano particles be considered sanitary? The only reason it’s used is that the externalities aren’t properly taxed (or not banned IMO). Maybe we should not use things that are “easier” when they’re contributing to a massive amount of pollution. I mean there was an article posted here about finding microplastics in a human fetus. Yet we still continue to use it.

Do bottles shed microplastics?

Manufacturer > store > pantry > garbage can > dump.

Isn’t the majority of this buried in the ground in dumps that are sealed off from groundwater?

I suspect our clothes, cars/tires, houses, and other things that live outside contribute more to microplastics than food containers.

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