Author Archives: ENSO Plastics

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1 out of 4 Shoppers Buy Green Products

A shopper experience study done by The Integer Group and M/A/R/C Research has revealed some anticipated results. The results of the study showed that 1 in four shoppers are willing to pay more for a product if they feel they are contributing to helping the environment. As far as age goes, 18 -34 year old shoppers take more time to embrace purchases that benefit the environment than shoppers between the ages of 35-44 and 55-64. This is great news for those wanting to find a earth friendly alternative to traditional plastics like ENSO biodegradable plastics.
It’s often assumed that college aged shoppers are likely to jump on the trend of environmentally friendly products but the study shows they are not willing to pay more to do so. This is not so surprising considering most college students are on a budget, however even college students will fork out the money for products they must have. College aged shoppers do not stay in their niche for long and this is something to consider. Going green can expand your market; if your product has typically been targeted to that age group…going green can expand your market to the older consumers who are more likely to pay a premium for green. This is something to consider when marketing your made over product.
Products that give not only supply a functional need but an emotional benefit make a product feel worthwhile to consumers. It’s these types of products that grow return customers because there is an emotional attachment or an emotional need for them to purchase the product. Figuring out how to position your product, and market that emotional factor is unique to every product but once you find it, you will succeed. This can directly apply to those companies who target their products to younger, say college aged shoppers. If you are wanting to go green and be successful your product needs to give consumers especially college aged kids on a budget, that emotional benefit so that they will feel they can spend the premium.

http://www.beverageworld.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=39183:… 7/20/2011

ENSO Plastics smart marketing at PACK EXPO

ENSO Plastics won over PACK EXPO attendees and exhibitors with their simple yet in your face marketing strategy.

A young woman, wearing a cleverly designed skirt from single use plastic waste and a sign stated “Is your packaging Biodegradable. ENSO plastics” As she walked down the aisles, heads turned, and people had to ask “Okay, you gotta tell me, What is ENSO?”

With the thousands of dollars spent adorning booths with hopeful marketing tactics, its refreshing that something as simple as in your face, emotionally jarring marketing can get your message across more successfully.

Got a photo of the plastic dress girl? Make sure to post it on ENSO’s facebook wall!

The Plastic Monster will be taking over PACK EXPO

ENSO Plastics is bringing the Heat to PACK EXPO this year

It’s no secret that ENSO Plastics’ biodegradable plastic technology brings the most desirable premium feature to any plastic product on the market wanting to go green. Interested? Intrigued? If you are attending PACK EXPO in Vegas get excited, because ENSO Plastics will be there and making noise in a way that you have not seen before. ENSO is bring the Plastic monster to PACK EXPO!

If you haven’t heard of PACK EXPO you’re missing out because PACK is North America’s largest packaging and processing show. With the opportunity to see 1600 world class suppliers, explore cutting edge technologies for all vertical markets , and discover a brand new array of products, why would you miss out on expanding your network and broadening your packaging knowledge?!

PACK EXPO 2011 | September 26–28, 2011
Las Vegas Convention Center | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
http://www.packexpo.com/pelv2011/public/enter.aspx

Whether you are just attending, sporting a booth, or if we have intrigued you enough to make last minute plans to attend, I hope to see you in Vegas! Please do not hesitate to contact me if you would like me to visit your booth or would like to personally meet and engage an ENSO Business Development professional.

Hot & Easy Tips to Marketing a Green Product

Marketing Green

There are many ways to market a “green” product, like ENSO plastics. Whether you are an established brand just now going green or a new company developing a brand, there are different routes you can go. Budget is a huge factor in the marketing process. If your company is trying to keep the cost down, the internet is a great way to create a green presence and an exciting hype among consumers without breaking the bank. My recommendation to new brands is to invest in your packaging, and creating that unique image that will draw consumers to your product in any store. Developing your brand is key because it is how consumers perceive your product. Think about it, why should consumers buy your product over some other brand? If your product is very similar to theirs, how can you differentiate yours? As a consumer I can honestly say that in a first time purchase, the design and packaging of a product can make the sale. If the product does not live up to its packaging, 99% of the time I will try a different brand. Pricing is another key factor, this varies depending on the product but consumers are willing to pay if the product is outstanding…however we all have are limits and consumers need to feel that we are getting our money’s worth. When asked 62% of shoppers say that green product options can impact unplanned purchases, 50% of all shoppers are willing to pay a premium for green products and 79% of shoppers are more likely to pay a premium for green in Grocery Stores. Regardless of income, age or gender the influence of GREEN marketing on actual purchases and upsells was largely consistent. Let me give you an example. A beverage product that has come to a competitive marketplace recently has differentiated themselves greatly by their packaging, the quality of the beverages, the emotional benefit you receive from each product and a slightly lifted price or $2.49 in most stores. While they are not the cheapest beverages on the market, they have branded and differentiated themselves outstandingly. Regardless of the fact that they are not necessarily a “green” brand…the concept of creating your brand and the perception consumers take in is relevant. Once you have your green product, your general plan, and your website and are ready to launch there are a couple of recommendations I have.

When you sign up with ENSO, we share the cost of a joint Press Release. You can spend a lot of money on these because they get great coverage and give the opportunity to educate consumers and the media about your product and your packaging. With ENSO, get two for the price of one to really launch your new, green brand.
Second, make sure you know and understand the habits of your target market. It is important to find the right person to handle your social media accounts because they need to know how to connect with your consumers and potential customers. Giving consumers incentives to return to your social media pages is vital if you want to build your brand recognition. To build your presence online try designing and selling branded apparel or conduct unique giveaways that will get consumers involved.
Identify a cause your brand can get behind. For instance “Earth Friendly Plastics”. Integrating a cause to your marketing strategy could potentially be huge for your company’s success. In a survey, 88% of those asked say it is acceptable for companies to involve a cause or issue in their marketing, 85% have a more positive image of a product or company when it supports a cause they care about and 80% are likely to switch brands, similar in price and quality, to one that supports a cause. Not only are consumers willing to switch among similar brands, they are also willing to step outside their comfort zones. When a brand supports a cause: 61% of Americans say they would be willing to try it (even if it is unfamiliar to them), 46% would try a generic or private-label brand and nearly one-in-five consumers (19%) would be willing to purchase a more expensive brand.
Like it or not, your customers live in a digital world where people are plugged in. Finding popular “youtubers” and bloggers that fit your target demographic and contacting them to review your product can be as effective as pay some high dollar “celebrity”. Utilizing Google ad-words and facebook ads can be a great way to experiment in driving traffic to your site and to your facebook page but be warned: they can be expensive…hiring a professional consultant is advisable.

The final important tip that I am going to give you is vital to marketing a green product: You must always think of your consumers and potential customers because after all, they are buying your product. Educate consumers about the “greenness” of your product as clearly as you possibly can, let them know that this is a premium feature of your product. Consult with the manufacturer you’re working with about proper terms and ways to educate your consumers without boring them. Establishing a portion on your site and your social media pages that is dedicated to educating consumers on your green technology not only builds trust with your consumers but makes them feel like they are doing some good by purchasing your product.

So What?

So WHAT?!

There is no question the biodegradation of traditional plastics is a reality, and YES plastics can now biodegrade in a landfill. However, as was so eloquently posed to me recently, “SO WHAT!?” We make plastics for every purpose imaginable and when we are done with them, we thoughtlessly toss the plastics in the landfill out of sight, out of mind…but “SO WHAT”!? Does it really matter if those plastics last forever or for just a few years? “SO WHAT”!?

Let’s look at the past 50 years: We used 7 million tons of plastic in 1960. We increased that to 196 million tons in 2005 and are expected to exceed 365 million tons in 2015. “SO WHAT”!? We put almost 90% of our plastic waste in our landfills. That equates to over 300 million tons of plastic every year in the landfill. TONS. Billions of tons filling up our landfills with plastic that will last pretty much forever. And each of us continues to add TONS more every day. If that is not enough to make you jump out of your seat and upgrade all of your plastic products to biodegradable…

Let’s look at things from a different view; The ENSO view.

Biodegradable Plastics –

Because we can reduce the volume of our landfills

Because we can build fewer landfills

Because every biodegradable plastic product you use can be converted to clean energy

Because we can choose plastics that work with nature rather than against it

Because your products can create a better world

Because WE created the mess and continue to do so

Because it’s this generation’s responsibility, not our children’s or our grandchildren’s

Because today you have a choice and tomorrow may be too late

Because your customers want it

Because you know it is the right thing to do

“SO WHAT” will you choose?

Perception, Influence, and the Force

There are three key market factors when it comes to new innovation: perception, influence, and force. Force is ultimately legislation (laws); legislation gets passed in most cases due to perception and influence. Consumers make their choices based on what ideology or technology to support based on both perception and influence. Force is a way to bypass both perception and influence; the irony is that consumers don’t usually realize this.

An extreme example of this would be back when it was generally accepted that the earth was flat. The theory that the earth was flat, ultimately lead to a belief for most of the world. The science community was instrumental in providing both the perception and influence which was then imposed by force. This then became a belief so that when new information came along that may suggest that the earth may indeed be round, that information was strongly influenced to the point of force to be kept from the public. The perception of what most people knew at that time was also a heavy influence in preventing the new information from becoming publicly accepted. As we have learned from the history books it took hundreds of years to work through the belief and ideology that the earth was indeed not flat.

With any new innovation, there are changes that need to take place both from a knowledgeable and an educational perspective (perception and influence). It is crucial that we humans make room so that our old processes and ways of thinking don’t prevent us from expanding our understanding of things. This is especially important when it comes to those solutions which are better for the environment (specifically how we look at, treat and handle plastics).

For example, I grew up with a strong understanding of composting – it was natural, creates wonderful rich soil, feels good to do and grounds us to the natural aspect of who we are. However, it also lead to a few misunderstandings about the process of biodegradation; the main one being that biodegradation must always be a quick process (reasonably short period of time). When it comes to composting food waste its understandable the beliefs I picked up. But what about other items such as a decaying tree trunk or slower biodegradation found in anaerobic (without oxygen) environments?

There are things we were never taught or more appropriately didn’t know because we hadn’t yet created the massive plastic pollution issue we are faced with today. It’s a fact that humans generate A LOT of trash. All creatures generate trash or waste materials but we humans have figured out how to create trash at a level that isn’t sustainable. There are efforts, and have been efforts for many years now; to reduce, reuse and recycle. These are very important words to live by; however the reality is that they haven’t been that effective in solving the issue of plastic waste.

Our company ENSO Plastics was created in 2008 by like minded individuals to solve our plastic pollution issue. ENSO Plastics has developed a blend of biodegradable resins which can be used in most of the major plastic manufactured today. Our biodegradable resins are designed specifically to be co-mingled in with the existing recycling process without contaminating the current recycling infrastructure. The amazing aspect of our technology is that it does not negatively impact the recycling infrastructure. For the 95% of plastics that do not make it into the recycle stream and end up discarded into landfill environments our biodegradable resins are designed to interact with the microbes found in nature to naturally biodegrade the entire plastic material back into natural compounds and gases.

The microscopic world that we live in is amazing and yet barely understood. Microbes have been found in almost every place and condition on our planet and are well at work in nature; as well as landfill environments. There are many who are still relaying on inaccurate past understandings about our microscopic world. It is time that we open ourselves to new understanding and knowledge.

Biodegradable plastic additive technologies have been around for years. The growth of this industry is a fairly new endeavor and ENSO Plastics is extremely excited to be part of this maturing industry. Sure we have A LOT of education that needs to be done so that the public better understands what is happening in the microscopic world around us. We must push through the cloud of past understanding and knowledge and ideologies that promote limited vision. ENSO Plastics is a significant part of the solution for plastic pollution. I believe that perception (knowledge and understanding) and influence (getting involved) are the keys to making improved changes for us individually and for the planet.

Einstein once said, “We must be open to thinking about problems with a different mindset than we had when we created the problem.”

Sincerely,

Danny Clark

President

ENSO Plastics

PEC Making Moves

Plastics Environmental Council

We have just returned from Atlanta, Georgia where the first PEC (Plastics Environmental Council) conference was held. As you recall, ENSO organized the EPC (Environmental Plastics Coalition) to fight the proposed bill AB1454 in the state of California, and many answered the call resulting in a successful veto of the anti-competitive, and anti-truth in labeling bill. From that successful organizational effort, all saw the need to continue the effort of keeping the market friendly and educated on biodegradable plastic products on a national level, so from this initial organization, the PEC was formed. I was truly floored by the amount of “top in their field” experts who are participating in the PEC. It was held on the campus of Georgia Tech. (who is a major participant of research and support of our technology as it applies to the marketplace) and as everyone in attendance introduced themselves, it became quite apparent that we had a second to none force on our side. From landfill research engineers, to polymer scientists, to political and legal professionals, the deck is extremely “stacked” in our favor to a solid future in the marketplace.

That being said, no one works for free, and although these individuals are in an attitude of assisting the progress of environmental friendly plastics, their activity and research needs funding. Please contact me to get more details on how you can get involved. Some of this year’s activities for the PEC will include; Creating an ASTM standard specification for Anaerobic and Aerobic biodegradation (a pass/fail specification), work in California with creating a good green packaging law, FTC education, biodegradability certification, massive amounts of pertinent information regarding how your products behave in landfill environments, recycle stream impacts, and more.

As you might already know, ENSO has already delved deeply into most of these items, now the good news is that we have more individuals assisting in the cause and the numbers are growing! Please let me know if you have any questions about what is going on, and also find out how you can get involved!

Sincerely,

Del Andrus

AT&T uses renewable plastic packaging

When it comes to plastic packaging it accounts for a huge chunk of our worlds single use plastic waste. Switching to a better alternative like plastic made with a renewable source is great. However when it comes to landfills/recycling….plastics like PLA corn plastics will act as traditional plastic. PLA acts wonderfully if placed into a industrial compost facility where it will be compostable but unfortunately a majority of people to not have access to these facilities. I am happy to hear that they will be using a renewable source for their plastic, but I wish the plastic would also be biodegradable in landfill like ENSO plastics. Let me know what you think! Leave a comment below dont forget to share this on facebook & twitter!

AT&T to use sugarcane, cut petroleum, in plastic packaging

Posted on September 13, 2011 at 5:45 am by Simone Sebastian in Ethanol, Biofuels, Petrochemicals

AT&T will start packaging its cell phone accessories in bio-plastic instead of petroleum-based plastic next month, the telecom company announced this week.

AT&T says the change is its latest effort to reduce the company’s carbon footprint. While the new plastic packaging will contain petroleum, up to 30 percent will be manufactured from plant materials, the company said in a statement.

While most plastics are manufactured from petroleum products like ethane and propane, technological advances have made plant-based plastics more widely available. Like biofuels, bioplastics are manufactured from agricultural crops, like corn and sugarcane.

AT&T said it will start using sugar cane ethanol to produce some of its plastic packaging beginning Oct. 2.

Jeff Bradley, AT&T’s senior vice president for devices, said in a statement the company will be the first in its industry to use plant-based plastic packaging for consumer products.

“We are actively working with our accessory suppliers to incorporate both less packaging and more sustainable plastic and paper,” Bradley said.

The company cut 500 tons of paper and plastic by shrinking its packaging in 2010 and 2011, according to the written statement, and has used soy and vegetable-based ink for some of its accessories cases.

How the Green Trend has Affected Product Design

Sustainable Future: How The Green Trend Has Affected Product Design

By LX Group on 12 September 2011

Sustainable Future: How The Green Trend Has Affected Product Design

It’s difficult to determine when the green trend started – whether it was back in the 90s when we all decided to save the whales and ban aerosol sprays or whether it was much recently when Al Gore won an Oscar and Nobel Prize for his travelling PowerPoint-documentary “An Inconvenient Truth.” But, no matter when it began, there’s no denying that people these days have become more environmentally conscious, and the green trend is here to stay. Product designers have realized that everyone is going eco-crazy, whether that means going on green vacations, using green electronic products, and even having green weddings. And today, when designing any product, whether it’s a computer, a couch or the latest smart phone, being environmentally-friendly is almost a requirement. Of course, this goes without saying that green product demand has also increased and environmentally friendly products not only save money, but get profits flowing in.

Let’s look at the ways that this green trend has influenced product design.

‘Green’ Product Design Criteria
To design a truly green product, it must meet some or all of these criteria:
• Be non-toxic so as not to harm the environment, people and pets; In electronics products for example, must contain lead-free pcb boards.
• It can be recycled or recyclable, to reduce the amount of trash in the landfills;
• It must use energy responsibly, whether that means that products use only renewable energy sources such as wind, solar or geothermal power or will reduce energy use, such as electronic products that go into ‘sleep mode’ to conserve energy.
• To a certain extent, it must support environmental responsibility, such as eco-friendly practices, creating more green or local jobs, and even use fair and truthful marketing when selling their products

‘Green’ Materials
Understanding the materials used for any process is essential for any project and one of the first things many designers must master is the use of materials. Unlike 20 years ago, eco-friendly materials are now more available than ever. Eco-friendly plastics for example, which can be recycled or biodegradable, are now more widely available, but are also as tough and durable as their regular counterparts. Take the ubiquitous plastic water bottle, for example – simple to design but the material takes hundreds of years to decompose, and is quite toxic to the environment. Arizona-based Enso Bottles has developed a truly biodegradable plastic, by using an additive that helps the bottle degrade in as little as 250 days, without releasing any harmful gasses. Electronic manufacturers also use green materials for their own products. For example, LCD TVs which use carbon neutral biopaint, smart phones with bioplastic enclosures and electronic products which feature lead-free electronics pcb boards.

Product Manufacture
It’s not enough that your materials are eco-friendly, but the way you create your product should be as well. Consumers truly care about how a product is made, and so the construction of a product must also fit within green standards. For example, Kyocera, a Japanese firm, creates their own energy from solar power generating systems for their manufacturing plants and offices around the world. One of the problems of any manufacturing plant is not just the energy they use, but the amount of waste produced. Canada-based OKI Printing solutions, which produces printers and printing accessories, have reduced the wastes and harmful materials from their process, including the total removal of hexavalent chromium from their screws and implementing a waste segregation policy which has reduced their waste by 70%.

Electronic waste or e-waste is another prevalent problem, this time on the side of electronic product designers. In many cases, such as in with the CEH (Center for Environmental Health) in the United States, electronic design houses are encouraged to, design products that are eco-friendly and safe for the environment, whether that means creating non-toxic programs, or creating products which can easily be recycled.

Product Disposal
Aside from just waste disposal, the end-of-life disposal is just as important – what happens when a product is no longer useful and must be replaced? Previously, manufacturers just let their old products linger in the landfills, but for today’s environmentally-conscious consumer, that simply won’t do. Many manufacturers recycle their products, or donate their waste to other companies or organizations who can reuse their old materials. Electronics designers and manufacturers should, from the very beginning of the design process, should create “Take-back” campaigns wherein consumers are encouraged to bring their used electronics back to the manufacturer for proper disposal or better yet, recycling. Apple Computers in 2009, for example, figured out that they were emitting 9.6 million metric tons of greenhouses gases every year. So, within the next year, they re-evaluated their entire process – from designing, to manufacturing, transportation, product use, recycling and even how they their facilities (office, stores etc.) and made numerous changes that drastically reduced their carbon emissions. Their biggest expenditure when it came to carbon emissions was the manufacturing process itself (45%) and so they drastically reduced this by redesigning their products to be smaller, thinner and lighter, thus dramatically lowering their over-all carbon footprint.

The green trend, it seems, is here to stay. Electronic product designers and manufacturers must comply or be left behind. By keeping their products and processes eco-friendly, everyone – the designers, manufacturers and even the retailers are not just protecting their bottom-line, but the environment as well, ensuring that we all preserve the planet one product at a time.

image http://moralcoral.wordpress.com/2011/05/16/sustainability-for-dummies/

Henkel builds Bioplastic Additive Plant

Oh bioplastics, how you confuse consumers. I am all for finding renewable sources for plastics but I also believe that product claims should speak very clearly about the capabilities of the product. Consumers often misinterpret “bioplastics” as being biodegradable, mainly because the lack of education in labeling. Check out the article below and leave me a comment letting me know what you think!

Bioplastics, additives top this week’s Material Insights video

By Frank Eposito | PLASTICS NEWS STAFF
Posted September 6, 2011

Plastics News senior reporter Frank Esposito

AKRON, OHIO (2:10 p.m. ET) — New capacity for recycled resins at a plant in Indiana is featured in this week’s Material Insights video.

Petoskey Plastics is spending $3 million on the project, which will add 12 million pounds of capacity to its plant in Hartford City, Ind. Some of the resin will be used at Petoskey film and bag plants in Petoskey, Mich., where the firm is based, and in Morristown, Tenn. Petoskey also is spending about $6 million to add new fim and bag lines at those two plants.

Henkel AG’s plans to build the world’s largest plastic additives plant in Shanghai also is featured in this week’s video. The 150,000-square-foot plant will have annual capacity of more than 900 million pounds for a variety of plastic additives. It represents an investment of more than $70 million for Henkel, which is based in Düsseldorf, Germany.

This week’s video wraps up with a pair of bioplastics items. Renewable chemicals maker BioAmber Inc. of Minneapolis is building a 35 million-pound-capacity plant in Sarnia, Ontario, to make succinic acid, which can be converted into bioplastics for auto parts and plastic cutlery. In Barcelona, Spain, Iris Research & Development has devised a way to produce a bioplastic based on whey protein, which is a byproduct of cheese production. The new bioplastic is expected to be used in food and cosmetics packaging.