Sustainable Packaging
Industry Experts discuss all the new materials and ways that packaging can be more sustainable and how we can do our parts to help recycle and reuse. Sustainable Packaging is and will continue to affect us all in our daily lives. We have lots of fun and get down to the real data of what's working to help our planet!
Sustainable Packaging
NEW Scotch™ 3M 570 paper tape (Alec Merchant and Dylan Shallbetter)
3M Industrial Packaging’s FIRST paper backed tape made for shipping!
Recyclable with the box!
ISTA 6A Tested
Join us at PACK EXPO International Booth N5318 this November 3-6
https://engage.3m.com/packagingsolutions
https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/b5005550001/?utm_term=sibg-isd-primpack-en_us-eng-a_a_o-cpc-google-pacequip-716352637133-brand-nov24-00000&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwsc24BhDPARIsAFXqAB32aeRYA6QR9tE-fW3iYJkocbsmOb_q2r2nZbDr6-j4aGU8_w6WyN8aApfzEALw_wcB
Check out our sponsor Orora Packaging Solutions
https://ororapackagingsolutions.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/cory-connors/
I'm here to help you make your packaging more sustainable! Reach out today and I'll get back to you asap.
This podcast is an independent production and the podcast production is an original work of the author. All rights of ownership and reproduction are retained—copyright 2022.
Welcome to Sustainable Packaging with Cory Connors. Today's guests are my friends from 3M. We've got an exciting new line of tape and really excited to talk about this. We think it can replace a lot of less sustainable options. I've got Alec Merchant and Dylan Shallbetter. How are you guys?
Dylan Shallbetter:Good. How are you doing today?
Cory Connors:Really good. Doing very good. Thanks for making time.
Alec Merchant:Yeah, doing very good. Cory, appreciate you having us on.
Cory Connors:I appreciate it. I got a roll of this stuff and, I gotta be honest. It's really cool. it's, something that I think will redefine the market, for different, sustainable options for tapes. But before we get to the product and what we're talking about there, let's have each of you speak to your positions at 3M and your roles there for the Scotch product.
Dylan Shallbetter:Yeah, hello, I'm Ellen Schaubeter. I'm a product development engineer in our industrial specialties division, working on industrial packaging tapes and our new sustainable packaging initiative. I've been with 3M a little under 11 years now and worked in a variety of our businesses related to the different tapes that 3M manufactures. I've started working on masking tapes, specialty single coated tapes. And as I said today, I now assist with the commercialization and ongoing upkeep of our industrial packaging products.
Alec Merchant:Yeah, and I'm Alec merchants, so I've been with 3M for just over 8 years coming up on 8 and a half years here. So I've been in a variety of different functions. I started out my career at 3M and as a sales rep in our packaging business, so I've built my career in 3M specifically in packaging. So I, about 2 and a half years ago, transitioned into a portfolio marketing role. And so I manage our packaging equipment. We have a portfolio called custom packaging solutions with this, which is ancillary packaging related items. And then we are just as Dylan said, we are diving into the sustainable materials. So I have responsibility for launching some of our new platforms and sustainability space. So super excited. 3M is learning a ton about this space and we're really happy today to talk about the new boxing tape that we're launching here.
Cory Connors:It is exciting. And honestly, as a, as somebody from the industry for 27 years, tape is very confusing and, they're, it's one of the most intricate and detailed parts of, what we do as packaging professionals is learning the different nuances and the different substrates that are available. But I was hoping, 1 of you could explain the market. What's out there? What's available today in tape?
Alec Merchant:Yeah, no, absolutely. So I think we're talking about appealing tapes. We primarily. See, 2 distinct kinds of constructions in the market today, and that's water activated tape. and pressure sensitive adhesives, right? So water activated tape, It's a paper starch back product that could be reinforced with filament strands to increase the durability of the product. The adhesive is activated by water. And that it abounds to the substrate, which is primarily corrugated. Right? water activated tape are commonly known as WAT in e commerce fulfillment applications because it has a perceived. tamper evident features and that it also works really well with custom printing. So companies can put their brand on it. they can, market to the customer's customer, which makes it really nice for that. when dealing with pressure sensitive card sealing tapes. There are a variety of backings, a variety of adhesive formulations that you can see. I'm starting with the adhesives. there's 3 primary pieces that you see in the market today. So synthetic rubber resin. Are more commonly known as hot melt adhesive. This is used for applications that require high sheer strength. So think of your e commerce fulfillment, general, industrial, CPG, biopharmaceutical applications where a strong adhesive is needed to ensure that the packaging is contained. It gets to the customer or end user of the product securely. next 1 would be acrylic adhesive, which has high tack, meaning the initial grab is really strong. But it doesn't have the longevity as a tape that you see on the market today. So we really suggest this for cold temperature applications where. The substrate may be wet, moist or damp, and then you also see, acrylic. being used in some of your utility grade applications are a lot of hand tape, right? Lower cost where customers may be able to do 1 or 2 applications of tape. so that's where we see the acrylic and then 1 of the long standing adhesive formulations is natural rubber. 3M really doesn't play in this space. We used to, but there is, you may see this out in the market periodically. Think of your really heavy duty applications, any appliance type stuff. military grade spec as well, from a backing perspective, we typically see a B. O. P. are commonly known as a polypropylene backed tapes. There's also polyester other backings that you can see for specially applications. but as we all know, there's a major shift in the market surrounding sustainability, sustainable material. So we're starting to see the emergence of paperback. Card sealing tapes, and we're super excited at 3 M to be able to talk about this platform that we're launching here today is going to be, 1 product of many to come. we're super excited to be entering the sustainability space.
Cory Connors:I love that. We're teasing even more products coming. This is exciting, Alec. You didn't tell me about this before. Yeah, Dylan. Anything else to answer?
Dylan Shallbetter:No, I think Alec covered the, the tape market very well. And as you mentioned, as we were talking beforehand, 3M has a lot of black ops style projects that we've got in the works that we can't talk about quite yet with you.
Cory Connors:Right. Well, I think that's why it was so exciting to visit your, innovation lab in Minnesota. That was an honor to be there to get the tour by 1 of your guides was, wow. We were totally impressed with Mikey prosciutto from, Minnesota. From, scrap and then we got to see so much and it was incredible, but I was, as packaging professionals, I really see us as problem solvers. we're not just me to less five where we are. How can we make a solution for you that will achieve whatever goals you're trying to attain? What problems are you trying to solve with this new tape?
Alec Merchant:Yeah, no, of course, that's a really good question. And I think there, there's, you mentioned at the beginning, tape is. Often forgotten about, but it's very important part of the piece of the puzzle in the packaging world. So there's a variety of problems we're trying to address with the new paper tape platform. I think, obviously, the biggest 1 is, customers, are shifting towards sustainable materials. it's top of mind in every single conversation. It's no longer a want. It's starting to become an expectation of a manufacturer, like 3 M to have sustainable product offerings. and leverage our supply chain to source sustainable materials. So we're hearing from also we're hearing from a lot of our largest customers that water activated tape comes with a variety of problems, such as dispensing challenges consistently having to refill water reservoirs. and then limited proven options for the automation space. We feel like this is a great opportunity. To capitalize on some of those applications and introduce alternative sustainable focus product. and I think. With that, no, we're having conversations with a lot of large customers around the topic of sustainability and water really is coming into play with that. So customers are trying to reduce the water consumption that they have. So this is a great alternative product. That has some sustainable focused attributes to it that we can bring forward as well. out to the market, and then I think just the main thing is automation. this material is going to be able to come and machine length roles that can run on a 3 case sealer. It can also run on competitive, case packers, case directors, case sealer. and so forth. We're addressing a variety of different, buzzwords out in the market, automation, sustainability with this product and platform that we're creating. So we're super, super excited about it.
Cory Connors:That is amazing. One of the biggest complaints I've seen about water activated tape is that if you don't Push down on it immediately. It won't adhere to whatever substrate you're taping. we've all received a shipment from 1 of the big retailers, or online retailers that, maybe the tape isn't even adhered at all. And that's, due to. speed of packing and, this material, although there are advantages, I think this, this new material will, will offer some really exciting changes. what makes this different, Dylan? What makes 3M 570 or Scotch material different?
Dylan Shallbetter:Yeah, so I think as we've talked about a little bit, the majority of the tapes that we offer in 3M's portfolio today are all going to be plastic backed or polypropylene backed. And so 570 is going to be the 1st paper backed industrial box sealing tape in our product portfolio. And as Alex said, there's multiple challenges that we're trying to solve with this product. Overtaking what? Automation. Custom regulation, customers requiring sustainable products. And so that's where we really have started the whole sustainable packaging initiative. And while 3M does offer, I would say other paperback industrial tapes today, such as our masking tapes and some of the other single coated tapes that we make, none of them were really up to the performance requirements for the packaging space, whether it was the adhesive on it, Or the backing just didn't meet the strength requirements to ship a product from point a to point B. And so that's when we were developing five 70, as we mentioned, we felt it was also important that the entire product construction was as sustainable as possible. So Alec had mentioned, there's a couple of different adhesive formulations that you can. work with as you are developing 5 70. And so the biggest thing that we wanted to focus on was having a solvent free product. And so you may see other paperback box sealing tapes that are on the market today, and there may be solvent that is used in the production of their tapes. And we didn't want that. Really, there's a couple of, there's really two reasons for that. And so one is your coating with solvents, you may release harmful volatile organic compounds as the solvent is basically evaporated from the adhesive as part of the adhesive coating process. And as part of that, then you often need specialized equipment, which is called a thermal oxidizer, which is a really fancy name for another oven that just burns all the solvent. And that's basically then needed to ensure that you're not releasing those volatile organic compounds. into the atmosphere. So that's so the combination of both the drying oven for the adhesive and then the thermal oxidizer means that solvent coating can be a very energy intensive process. Whereas with the hot melt adhesives that we're using, it is a lot less energy intensive and we don't have the possibility of reducing those volatile compounds into the atmosphere if there ever was an issue with the process.
Cory Connors:When I think of VOCs, I think of, how it was explained to me was it's that new car smell, and, although it may be a pleasant smell, it's not so good for us, is what it's, I've been told. Have you heard that explanation
Dylan Shallbetter:as well? Yes, and that's, and it's very similar to what I'm talking about. the VOCs that we would release, usually are not so pleasant smelling as the new car smells. So you would be able to tell pretty quickly that this was probably not something that you would want to be breathing in regularly.
Cory Connors:And when we think about people packaging products, it's a very intimate relationship with the packaging materials. It's right here. you're right in your face all day long. Pulling the tape over the box or sealing whatever the item you're using is. So I think I commend, Scotch and 3M for considering that when they're making this more sustainable option. What kind of testing did you go through to make sure that this material will hold up to the old, tried and true tapes that have been used in the industry?
Dylan Shallbetter:Yeah, so there's a wide variety of testing that we've been doing, touching a little bit on the sustainability piece. one of the things that we've tested with the product and have had it certified as it is certified as recyclable with the box. through Western Michigan University's O. C. E. Pulpability and recyclability test. And so what recycle with the box certification means is that if you had a box delivered today with 5 70 on it, you can leave 5 70 on the box. put the box in your recycling bin and 5 70 is not going to detract from the recycling process. tapes that don't have this certification, the recyclability with the box by Western Michigan or a similar lab. They haven't been studied how they're going to impact the recycling process. And so you're actually supposed to remove tapes that don't have that certification from the box today, because as I said, it's not understood how they impact the recycling process. so that's one thing we're proud to show with 570 is that it's, It's not going to impact the recycling process. And then on the performance standpoint, our development team in our lab has put 570 kind of through our rigorous internal battery of tests. And then we've also done recognized kind of industry shipping standards. The big one is the Amazon ISTA 6A, drop test. So ISTA 6A is a kind of a, an Amazon drop test that was designed, for guidelines on how to ship products and or package products. as you either sell products through Amazon or ship in your own container. And so really, it's then looking at how is the packaging going to do during shipping? So the test itself actually consists of a series of 17 different drops of the package from various, Heights and on corners, faces, edges of the box, and then we actually did it basically with weights ranging from as low as 3 up to about 23. Oh, that's impressive. So in our testing, what we saw then is that with 570, will best be used for palletized and then, lightweight single parcel shipments under 20. 23.
Cory Connors:That's excellent, which is probably the majority of shipments. If I had a crystal ball, I would think that's probably most, a day, direct to consumer or even industrial shipments. It sounds like so this will be a very versatile material to be used. Like you said, on a machine or on a hand dispenser. That's very exciting.
Alec Merchant:Yeah, no, absolutely. Corey. And I think, yeah, diluted is, we see a variety of applications that the product is going to work well for. We don't want to say, just ballot ties. We don't want to say just single parcel shipments up to 20 pounds. It's really going to be customer specific as we're launching. the 1st product in this platform, we can, we see applications across everything from, general industrial CPG. Medical, you name it. and it's, what makes 3M really unique in the sense is we want to make the customer interaction pretty intimate. And so we want, let's say you have a application that's, up to 25 pounds. We have a lab that, dealing works out of up in Saint Paul, Minnesota, which we can send your product to. we can do full laboratory testing and spit out is what we call a technical service report that shows, hey, maybe your product is 25 pounds, but due to the construction of your box due to the, how your package is packaged with void fill, the product may work to it. So we have the ability to do all those tests at no cost to the customers to make sure that we're providing the best product for their application.
Cory Connors:That's excellent. What a that's a true partnership there. I love to see that.
Alec Merchant:Yeah,
Cory Connors:I know we talked about being machine applied. but 1 of my favorite things about this tape is you don't even need a dispenser. it can be torn applied by hand and torn off fairly easily. it could it also use the standard tape dispensers that everybody knows about?
Alec Merchant:Yeah, no, absolutely. So I think, yeah. When creating this product, we wanted to make sure that we provided a variety of different, dispensing options. So your traditional customers on the marketplace today, you'll see, manual hand dispensers, whether it's a pistol grip, whether they're doing it by hand, or there's a variety of different types of hand dispensers that they can apply the hand rolls with. obviously, we discussed a big target market for us is water applicate water activated tape applications. so there is, tabletop, definite length dispensers. So think of, like, a push button dispenser that will be able to dispense 612, 24 inches of tape. it can mirror that pack station type environment. And then, obviously, case sealers, case Packers, you name it, we have the machine length roles that will be able to run on those. So we can really start with a customer in their customer journey of, their hand taping that we can introduce, a tabletop dispenser and then we can introduce automation. So we're providing them with. Multiple different dispensing options, but providing them with, that sustainable driven, card sealing tape for the market.
Cory Connors:It's really impressive and I think it's checking a lot of boxes. And I think it might become the standard tape used to the industry as, as far as I can tell. It's, for most of the customers I'm working with, it will fill most of their needs for packaging tape. And like you said, it's, yeah. Curbside recyclable with the box. It's just that's that's the holy grail for sure for sustainability
Alec Merchant:Yeah, no, Corey. I really do think so. we, like I alluded to, we do agree that we feel like the market is going towards, the more sustainable materials. And although it's not, government mandated yet, We're hoping that in the future, the portfolio is going to shift to this or paperback more sustainable options as we start to scale and build out this platform. So we're super excited about it available to all customers and we don't want to subset just a small base of it just because they have sustainable initiatives. We want to make sure that we're bringing forward the best product for the best application.
Cory Connors:it's amazing. You mentioned a couple of times that you have some things in the works for future development. Can you tell us a little bit about that? That 3 M scotch or 3 M innovation strategy? Looking forward to more sustainable options.
Alec Merchant:Yeah. So I think, we're looking at a lot of different things, obviously, big company like 3M, we don't want to open up the curtains too much on what's to come. this is the first I won't
Cory Connors:tell anybody. I promise.
Alec Merchant:This is the first of a bunch. So we're looking at a variety of different options. and we really want to make sure that when we're bringing forward products, we're bringing forward products that are going to work for the marketplace. And that are going to work for the customers. so there's more to come. We're super excited. This, five 70 just launched here in October. and then as we go into 2025, we'll hope to be talking with you again on what's some cool new products that will be launching.
Cory Connors:Ooh, teasers. I love this exciting. So there's a big event coming up here in Chicago. it is the, World series of packaging, I think it's the biggest show in North America this year. It is called pack expo international. will you be showing off this new material at that event?
Alec Merchant:Yeah, no, absolutely. So we're bringing a new flavor to how we, approach pack expo this year. So you'll be able to see. Scotch 570, you'll also be able to see, our padded, automatable, curbside, recyclable mailer material, more commonly known as Packer. and our booth number is going to be N5318. So. Um, you know, there's also going to be, a request for contact link in the podcast bio. So if you guys have interest prior to Pack Expo of the product. feel free to reach out to us. We can get samples out. We have, we're fully stocked in our distribution network. All of our sales reps are trained up and ready to go. So we're super, super excited on that. the pack expo, like you said, it is the kind of the Holy grail. It is the biggest show. And so we're, we'll be highlighting this on all of our equipment and be very happy and eager to talk to customers. Excellent
Cory Connors:this year pack expo international will be 1. 3M square feet.
Alec Merchant:crazy
Cory Connors:of Packaging innovations that doesn't even include the aisle ways where you walk So make sure you write down the number in five three one a so n means it's in the north building if I recall yeah, and five three one a that'll tell you where it is in that building. but it's important that when we schedule pack Expo, we have a plan because it is I went 1 year and didn't have any plans or ideas or thoughts on who I was going to see. And I found myself just. Being totally overwhelmed with, even circling back to the same buildings like, oh, I've been here before so highly recommend when you're planning for pack Expo, right down 10 booths that you must see and make sure that this 3 M booth is 1 of those because I know there's like, like you mentioned, we've got several products. That'll be, debuting there at this event.
Alec Merchant:Yeah, no, absolutely. outside of that core, like I said, you can, we have a full staff of field sales representatives. so if you're in the market, if you're familiar who your rep is, if you're familiar with who your packaging distributor is. Reach out to them, we'd love to get connected. We have, 3M. com, you can search 570, all the product related information will. We'll be on the website. and then, make sure to swing by at PAC expo for sure. We're super excited to be showcasing and, we'd love to chat with you. We got some meeting rooms in the booth. We can sit down and have some conversations about your application. What makes most sense for you.
Cory Connors:Excellent. And I'll be there Monday morning. So if anybody's listening, wants to meet all of us, there, the, Alec and I think Dylan, you'll be there a little later. Oh, you'll be there Monday morning.
Dylan Shallbetter:Yeah. I'll be there Monday morning.
Cory Connors:So if you want to meet all 3 of us, we'll be there at the booth. I'm super excited to, we're going to be making some content, some tick tocks and some different, LinkedIn, Posts about what you're doing, but it's very exciting and a real opportunity. I'll put all those links in the show notes. So people, if you're interested in reaching out to Alec and Dylan and team right away, you can just scroll up and click on the links. thank you again. Anything else you want to talk about before we close the show?
Alec Merchant:No, I just want to say, thank you for the opportunity here. So super excited. We appreciate the partnership with you. It's been awesome. and super excited to launch this new product here off to the market.
Cory Connors:Yeah. Thank you so much, Dylan. Yeah.
Dylan Shallbetter:Yeah. Thank you for the opportunity to talk with you. And as Alex said, we've got more projects in the work for next year. So hope to talk to you again in the future.
Cory Connors:Looking forward to it. I'm real honored to partner with, 3M and Scotch team for all these new products. So thank you all.
