Improving the global sustainability of product packaging took a meaningful step forward with a new collaboration proposed by the Coca-Cola company and Michigan State University. Coca-Cola awarded USD400,000 to Michigan State University’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources to help establish a new Centre for Packaging Innovation and Sustainability.
The planned centre, to be housed in the MSU School of Packaging, will serve as a think tank for packaging innovation and sustainability and a research and education hub to measure and reduce packaging’s environmental impact. The Coca-Cola grant represents the initiating gift in a campaign to establish the global centre.
The centre will involve the MSU colleges of Agriculture and Natural Resources (School of Packaging), Engineering and the Eli Broad College of Business (Department of Supply Chain Management). It will provide a platform for both collaborative, non-proprietary research and proprietary work conducted by industry partners, both in partnership with and independent of MSU researchers, to develop innovative packaging solutions that reduce production costs and improve sustainability.
“The centre will offer an entry point for industry to have easy access to MSU expertise. It will serve as a bridge between corporate and packaging industry professionals and university scientists in engineering, packaging, business, the environment and other areas,” said Satish Udpa, dean of the MSU College of Engineering. “The centre will be a clearing house that disseminates information and encourages action that speeds the adoption and implementation of sustainable practices.”
The centre will include state-of-the-art technology for bench research and testing of packaging materials and will offer academic, outreach and continuing education programs. It is anticipated to eventually expand its reach internationally through research, development, education and training facilities in Dubai and Shanghai.
“Packaging is ubiquitous throughout the food system and a critical component to the quality, safety and sustainability of the products we buy and eat,” said Jeffrey Armstrong, dean of the MSU College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The commitment to establish the Centre for Packaging Innovation and Sustainability is a move towards an unprecedented level of industry collaboration that will have global implications for improving packaging performance and sustainability.
