How Ironic! UrthPact – A Company Located in The Pioneer Plastic City – Is Molding the Future of Sustainable Plastics
Drive about an hour west of Boston and you’ll find a small city called Leominster. With a population of just over 41,000 and a history deeply rooted in the manufacturing industry, Leominster holds an ominous and historic nickname: The Pioneer Plastics City. Now hang on; we know that being known as the Birthplace of Modern Plastics may not exactly be the best of nicknames in today’s day and age. But as a member of a community and a city that has always been a leader in the plastics industry, UrthPact has engineered and contributed the solution to the plastic pollution problem. In doing so, UrthPact hopes that their home town will be soon known as the Pioneer Bio-Plastics City.
Quick history lesson first: originally a part of nearby Lancaster, Leominster itself was incorporated in 1740, and was a major stop on the Underground Railroad during the Civil War. What started out as mainly a farming community quickly moved to manufacturing around the turn of the 19th century, with the opening of the Fifth Massachusetts Turnpike and the addition of the Fitchburg and Worcester railroads that ran straight through the center of town. One of the largest manufacturing industries that succeeded in Leominster was the comb industry (keep in mind, we’re still pre-plastic here, so comb-making was a painstaking and time-consuming process). Comb-making was then revolutionized in 1868 by the invention of “celluloid,” one of the first plastic materials. Production skyrocketed, and Leominster was dubbed the “Comb City.” The next turning point came in the early 1930s when Samuel Foster brought the process of injection molding to Leominster, which further expanded a plastic manufacturers’ capabilities. The introduction of injection molding would earn Leominster the moniker of the “Pioneer Plastics City.”
Leominster would continue to be a leader in the plastics industry throughout the 20th century, with many iconic products originating there, including Tupperware and the pink lawn flamingo. The late 20th century marked the first large-scale decline in plastics manufacturing in Leominster, as operations were made cheaper by moving them overseas. But it was also around this time that UrthPact CEO Paul Boudreau had begun his journey in the plastics industry, one that would lead to him and UrthPact becoming a world leader in compostable bioplastic manufacturing.
Bourdeau began his work in plastics with the goal of manufacturing items that anyone else said was impossible to do in the world of injection molding. And he succeeded. He built a very successful injection molding business that contracted to a variety of organizations, creating a wide range of previously impossible-to-make products. However, a walk on the beach one spring on a family trip to the coast of Maine put things into perspective. Boudreau noticed a variety of plastic remnants littered on the shore, and he could connect himself to nearly every single piece he found. He realized then that in an effort to make a mark on an industry, he had left a terrible scar on the planet. As an established member of the Pioneer Plastics City and the injection molding industry, he decided it was time to change the face of plastics to find a more sustainable solution.
And in 2013 Boudreau founded UrthPact – a company focused on the manufacturing of single-use compostable bioplastic products. The company motto is to create a world where consumption leaves no footprint, and they’ve set a goal of keeping 25 billion plastic pieces from reaching oceans and landfills by 2025. With innovative techniques and a wealth of engineering knowledge, Boudreau and his team have built one of the largest and most successful bioplastic manufacturing companies in the world. Still located in Leominster, they’ve added another goal to the list: to change the reputation of the Pioneer Plastics City, to break the status quo in Leominster that was set almost 150 years ago with the introduction of celluloid. Boudreau and UrthPact were recently featured in WCBV-TV’s Chronicle special “Know Your Nicknames,” where Boudreau talked about the importance of bioplastics, and how UrthPact is working to introduce them to the world as the solution to the single-use plastics problem. Some of the other towns included in the program were Carriage Town (Amesbury), Chair City (Gardner), the Kielbasa Capital of the World (Chicopee), the Asparagus Capital of the World (Hadley), Watch City (Waltham), and Leather, or Tanner City (Peabody). But there’s no shortage of nicknames in Massachusetts; honorable mentions from the episode include Tool Town (Athol), Jump Town (Orange), Toy Town (Winchendon), Witch City (Salem), Whaling City (New Bedford), the Birthplace of American Liberty (Lexington), Sliver City (Taunton), and Shoe City/”the City of Champions” (Brockton).
Leominster and the plastics industry is changing. Both manufacturers and consumers recognize that we need a more sustainable solution than traditional, petroleum-based single-use plastic products. The problem started close to home for us here at UrthPact, and now we’re solving it. Leominster is still very much a pioneer city in the plastics industry – just a much more sustainable one. How often do you see a solution arise from the same community that was one of the original leaders for the problem? Innovation and leadership have always been our specialty at UrthPact, and we don’t plan on stopping anytime soon. Before you know it, the sign you drive past to enter our city will read: Welcome to Leominster, The Pioneer Bioplastics City.
How UrthPact Can Help YOU Achieve Your Sustainability Goals
Sustainability. Something that’s been on the minds of many companies, businesses, and organizations, especially in recent years. Many have even set 5- and 10-year goals to reduce energy consumption or to make their packaging completely environmentally-friendly. And while setting goals is the first step towards a healthier planet and sustainable business, it’s achieving those goals that some companies struggle with. You can find environmental problems in nearly every nook and cranny of the business model, especially in industries like restaurants, manufacturing, and energy. If you’re struggling with goals you’ve set, or you don’t know what type of goals you should be setting but want to be more environmentally friendly, then UrthPact is here to help.
Sustainability goals vary by industry. Many are focused on energy usage, greenhouse gas emissions, or packaging solutions. Setting your sustainability goals is a team-wide effort. And, even a small goal can make a big difference over a long period of time. If you exceed your goal early, you can always reset it even higher! You can break down corporate sustainability initiatives into six areas: pollution prevention, resource conservation, zero waste to landfill, waste reduction/minimization, zero discharge, and reduce carbon footprint/zero emissions.
Let’s start with pollution prevention categorized goals. Pollution can occur in a variety of different environmental areas, including air, water, soil, and others as well. These types of sustainability goals aim to eliminate waste at the source. Things like reducing carbon emissions and waste reduction fall under this broader umbrella of pollution prevention. These goals can be achieved in a few different ways. Choosing less toxic materials in the manufacturing sector, or modifying production processes to emit less waste and emissions are great ways to reduce greenhouse gases or physical polluting waste. Along similar lines, conservation techniques can be implemented in parallel with eliminating waste. The classic reduce, reuse, and recycle method also applies here for physical components like packaging and supplies as well.
Next, we have resource conservation goals. Many organizations look to reduce water, electricity or energy, and raw materials. Simple things like optimizing water efficiency and utilizing automatic shut-off lights and energy-efficient bulbs can be easy changes that make a big difference. Innovation in production can also help to reduce scrap material as well, or to reuse it in new products. A great example of resource conservation comes from Bosch, who has a 6-pronged set of sustainability goals that cover a wide variety of fields, including energy, climate, health, globalization, water, and urbanization.
Zero waste to landfill. This goal is a lofty one and looks to eliminate ALL of an organization’s waste that would normally be taken to landfill. This is a specific component of a zero-waste goal, not the equivalent overall of zero waste. Zero waste to landfill indicates that absolutely no manufacturing waste is headed for landfills. Some companies try to cheat this type of goal by incinerating their waste, but this usually creates ash that then must be landfilled. A variety of cities in the US have zero waste goals, including New York, Minneapolis, Washington DC, Washington state, San Francisco, San Diego, Dallas, and Austin. Even large food and beverage organizations like Nestle have committed to reaching 100% zero waste by 2030.
The next area of sustainability goals is waste minimization and waste reduction. These are the stepping stones towards implementing a zero waste to landfill goal. Essentially, if zero waste is too lofty a goal, or would take a very long time to achieve that it’s not a realistic goal to set, this is the next best thing. And, after achieving waste reduction and minimization, goals for zero waste can be set for the future. Some methods include source material reduction, or utilizing environmentally-sound recycling methods for materials, energy, and other resources. Amcor has committed to making 100% of their packaging either recyclable or reusable by 2025, and to utilizing more recycled materials as well.
Moving forward, we have zero discharge sustainability goals. This means to eliminate discharge pollutants from a point source (like a manufacturing or processing plant), especially into local waterways. Some organizations go for total discharge elimination, while some focus on specific (and usually more toxic) pollutants. These goals also require organizations to be good water stewards, in which the company is aware of and understands their water usage and water governance in their areas. One of the most common methodologies is to recycle industrial wastewater by treating it and transferring pollutants to a solid waste sludge. Levi Strauss & Co works to preserve fresh water for drinking and other uses through water recycling.
Finally, we have zero emissions goals. This is your classic reduction of the carbon dioxide emissions goal. Using energy-efficient machinery, as well as EPA tracking systems that will help measure and regulate carbon emissions are some of the simplest methodologies to reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Investing in renewable energy and utilizing electric or fuel-efficient fleet vehicles are also great ways to reduce emissions. Some great real-world examples are GM working towards a zero-emissions future and Ball Corp looking to cut the carbon footprint of their beverage cans by 25%.
So how can UrthPact play into all of these sustainability goals? We believe in creating a world where consumption leaves no footprint, and therefore everything we do is to create a more sustainable world. Our main focus is on the plastic pollution problem. Single-use plastics are one of the biggest pollutants in today’s world, and our goal is to eliminate 25 billion plastic pieces from oceans and landfills by 2028. We focus on three main product lines to help companies reduce their amount of plastic usage: coffee packaging (pods and valves), single-use cutlery, and single-use straws.
All of our products are made from compostable bioplastic or recycled-content materials. Our coffee packaging and cutlery are currently made from an industrially compostable bioplastic called PLA. Products made from PLA have a completely circular lifecycle, meaning they allow you to have pollution prevention, lowered emissions, and conserve natural resources. Industrially compostable products fit into sustainability goals surrounding packaging. These types of goals usually require that all packaging be reusable, compostable, or recyclable (in practice). While compostables are difficult to implement in a variety of applications, single-use products are the perfect niche for this type of product. As long as you manage waste and ensure there is a practicing composter in your area, this type of product is the perfect solution.
Our straws are the special exception. While our cutlery and coffee packaging are industrially compostable our straws are home compostable, meaning that they can break down anywhere on Earth in under a year. By partnering with us on straws (we do white-label and private-label solutions), you can eliminate a huge piece of the single-use problem within your business. It allows you to reduce waste, and the straws can be easily disposed of with compostable food waste. And should they end up in landfills, they will still biodegrade completely to innocuous elements in under a year. So while there is still waste to landfill, that waste will not sit in the landfill for hundreds of years like its plastic counterparts would. And that’s the difference. On top of all that, our straws are also marine-degradable, meaning they’ll completely biodegrade in the ocean, should they accidentally get there. This makes our straws the best of every world. Plus, we guarantee customer satisfaction. All the functionality you’d expect from plastic with none of the environmental guilt.
Compostables are a niche product. But they cover more areas of sustainability than you may think. For example, because compostable bioplastics are made from cornstarch, sugar cane, or canola, they actually pull carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. On the other hand, traditional plastics release carbon dioxide that was sequestered away for millions of years. Overall, compostables pull carbon while petro-based adds carbon. Differences like these allow compostables to cover a variety of sustainability initiatives within your business.
So, to sum it all up: UrthPact compostables provide a great opportunity to help achieve your sustainability goals, especially when those goals are centered around waste and packaging. We encourage any organization to set some kind of sustainability goal, even if it’s a small one. If everyone just takes one small step forward in the field of sustainability, we can end up taking a giant leap as a society. The planet is depending on us to protect it; it’s time we stepped up.
World CleanUp Day 2020 – How UrthPact’s Compostable Products Clean the Planet
25 billion pieces of plastic. A world where consumption leaves no footprint. Both of these missions are what drive everyone at UrthPact every single day. Every compostable piece we manufacture, every sale we make, brings us closer to these goals. With World CleanUp Day tomorrow, we want to encourage everyone out there to do something for the planet. Pick up trash while on your daily walk, participate in a beach cleanup, or even something as simple as declining a plastic straw with your morning iced coffee and opting for a more sustainable option like reusable or home compostable. Every single person making one small change has the ability to create ripples through a society, and reach further than you could imagine.
When UrthPact was founded, we set a goal of creating a world where consumption leaves no footprint. We recognize that society requires the convenience and use of plastic products, but we want to be able to provide that convenience without putting a burden on the planet. That’s why all of our product lines are compostable–either commercially or home compostable. Each product we sell helps to eliminate the need for their plastic counterparts, therefore reducing the need for plastic products throughout an industry. By providing a cost-effective and planet-healthy alternative, we continue moving towards a world where consumption leaves no footprint.
Not only do we have a goal of consumption without leaving a footprint, but we also set a goal to prevent 25 billion plastic pieces from reaching oceans and landfills. Every article we sell contributes to this goal. As of this week, we had crossed the 8 billion mark on our way to this goal. That’s enough pieces to circle the Earth almost 40 times. And we still have a long way to go. In order to reach the 25 billion mark, we still have to circle the Earth over 80 more times. That’s where all of our partners and customers come in. We truly would never have come this far, or have the ability to reach these goals without them.
So, as you head outside this weekend, take a minute to think about the planet. What can you do on a daily basis to help clean up your neighborhood? Could you switch from disposable plastic bottles to a reusable one? Could you choose paper bags at the grocery store rather than plastic? Maybe order compostable coffee pods instead of buying plastic ones? By making one small change in your daily routine, you just might influence the people around you to make changes too. Participating in World CleanUp Day 2020 is a great place to start your sustainability journey, and a great way to end the Summer of Sustainability. So pick up trash, choose sustainable single-use products, and encourage others to make the healthiest choices for our planet.
Elevate Your Coffee Packaging with One-Way Degassing Valves from evalv®
As the amount of discarded plastics in our environment grows, the pressure to provide eco-friendly packaging options has rightfully increased. For environmentally conscious coffee producers, there has been one particularly stubborn packaging element that simply refused to change with the times. Compostable coffee bag film solutions are not able to be used with a polyethylene valve. The evalv® opens the door to using a fully compostable bag.
With evalv®, Eco-Friendly Coffee Packaging Is 100% Compostable
The experts at UrthPact sought to create an environmentally safe solution. Developing a sturdy, multi-component valve assembly from compostable plastics is a significant technical challenge. However, as the leading experts in injection-molded compostable bioplastics, our engineers were uniquely suited to solve the problem.
The result is evalv®, a 100% compostable degassing valve that fits easily into most existing valve applicators. evalv® looks and performs just like conventional coffee valves—the only difference is the material. They are made with bioplastics sourced from canola seeds or cornstarch; they meet the ASTM and ISO standards for compostable materials. In commercial composting environments in as little as three months, evalv® will fully break down into compost. When paired with a compostable plastic bag, the entire package can be easily composted both commercially and domestically.
evalv® Can Do More Than Coffee
Compostable, one-way degassing valves are not just limited to packaging for coffee beans. Many packaging applications that utilize degassing valves—from fertilizer to sauerkraut—can be made more eco-friendly with evalv®. Any fermented product packaged with one-way degassing valves can also be packaged using evalv®.
If you’re interested in making your coffee packaging completely compostable and eco-friendly, contact UrthPact today.
