NuGen Packaging And Semaine Health Has A Mission In Mind

When we were introduced to Semaine, they had a mission in mind...Sustainable Packaging for their women’s health supplements. The package would need to protect their product, so exceptional performance barriers were not an option. Raising the stakes, it was important that the packaging look fabulous all the while making sure it was ecologically and socially responsible.

We immediately thought of Aluminum bottles that they could print instead of label, and a 100% PCR closure in keeping with their sustainable goal. We explained that the aluminum bottle could be infinitely recycled. For every ton of aluminum recycled, the savings are 14,000 Kw/Hr of energy, saving 270 cubic feet of landfill space, and 6,545 liters of oil. When compared to Glass Bottles (Recycled at ~39.6%), Plastic Bottles (Recycled at ~20.3%), Aluminum is the clear winner at an ~45.2% recycling rate.

The sustainable metrics had to be coupled with exceptional performance barriers and here we could taut that the aluminum bottle had no discernible MVTR (moisture vapor transmission rate) (3rd party tested), and would also score better than any other packaging material they were reviewing (plastic, paper, or glass). Oxygen Transmission Rates, UV light, and Odor transmission are areas where aluminum scores exceptionally well. In addition, we knew that aluminum is incredibly light weight, an added shipping sustainability benefit.

While all of these benefits are great, the thing that most innovators often overlook is the ease of going from ideation to commercialization. The beauty of this aluminum bottle is that it could go directly to an existing fill line. There no need to re- invent a production operation in order to facilitate the new package, so speed to market was unconstrained by equipment capital requirement or additional production space.

Semaine decided to use 100% PCR content in their closure, which they understood would be generated from plastic processed responsibly, that would otherwise end up in landfills or the ocean floor.