Packaging & Materials Testing Services: Data to Support Sustainability Goals
The requirements for sustainable packaging are increasing in all industries, driven by customers, shareholders, global regulations and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) objectives. However, implementing changes required to meet sustainability goals may affect an ecosystem and require sustainability testing and analysis. A holistic approach concerning customers, product and package system design, materials, suppliers, distribution partners, quality, and field returns may be required.
Call (800) 830-8021What Are Sustainability Testing Strategies
Sustainability is one of the fastest-growing priorities in the world today. From reducing materials and waste to lowering their total carbon footprint, companies are under pressure to deliver product and package solutions that are both environmentally responsible and reliable for the end user.
A few of the sustainability strategies companies have available to achieve packaging and product goals may include:
Test Plan for Getting a More Sustainable Package
- Fully understand and quantify your product’s distribution and storage environments early in the design processes
- Conduct bare product testing such as damage boundary, product resonance, and product operational testingImprove product robustness
- Adequately test and confirm the package system’s effectiveness in protecting the product during distribution
- Test the packaging materials to see if they can be reduced.
Where can WESTPAK Help
- Conduct bare product testing such as damage boundary, product resonance, and product operational testing
- Adequately test and confirm the package system’s effectiveness in protecting the product during distribution
- Test the packaging materials to see if they can be reduced.
- Conduct material testing such as compression, Mullen Burst, ECT and Cobb.
Earth-friendly, sustainable packaging materials can be specified during development and used in production. Product and package testing can aid in making sure that more sustainable packages will still meet the protection requirements of the product while meeting your company’s sustainability goals. Engineer optimized product and package designs that can economically deliver damage-free goods to their destinations.
How WESTPAK Sustainability Tests Can Help You
Regardless of the sustainable testing services, strategies and tactics you may use to attain sustainability goals, you’ll need to verify the effectiveness of the changes with testing analysis.
Contact WESTPAK labs early in the planning cycle with questions regarding sustainability test specifications, plans, strategies, samples, and whatever else you might need. WESTPAK’s experts can partner with your team to develop a sustainability testing plan, plus budgetary and cycle time estimates and a timeline if needed.
For example, we can execute material testing, perform a Product Fragility Assessment, or, if you need guidance developing a proprietary sustainability test protocol or customizing an existing one, WESTPAK can help.
How Does WESTPAK Testing Support Sustainability
WESTPAK’s broad range of product and package testing capability and expertise is essential to evaluate and optimize materials, products, and package systems that have been transformed to achieve sustainable objectives. As the industry leader in package and product testing, WESTPAK partners with brands to achieve sustainability goals without compromising product and package performance or protection.
Why Partner with WESTPAK for Sustainability Testing Services?
Work with WESTPAK experts to identify opportunities, validate improvements, and build a roadmap for your business, starting with product, and packae testing. Successfully reduce waste, materials, and space while protecting your product. Realize lower shipping costs and a minimized carbon footprint with material analysis.
With over 100,000 sq. ft. of accredited testing space, our ISO/IEC 17025 accredited, ISTA-certified labs feature fully validated stability chambers and custom storage capabilities. We offer reliable, independent third-party results. Contact us today to see how WESTPAK can help advance your sustainability initiatives.
Sustainability Testing Services
FRAGILITY ASSESSMENT / DAMAGE BOUNDARY TESTING
Sustainable package design may be enabled by applying Damage Boundary principles to establish product fragility. Once fragility is quantified, an optimized package system utilizing sustainable materials can be created in which a minimum of materials is needed to protect the product during the distribution process.
DISTRIBUTION TESTING
The best way to ensure products will be delivered damage-free is to perform Distribution testing at an accredited test laboratory utilizing ASTM or ISTA test protocols. These tests simulate the distribution environment and potential hazards your product may encounter during transit.
DROP TESTING
When performed using ASTM or ISTA protocols in a controlled test environment, Drop testing accurately simulates impacts on the package from free-falls, tumbles, and other types of handling in the shipping and distribution environment. The anticipated shipment method, assurance level, and the package's physical dimensions and weight are some considerations available when choosing test parameters.
Sustainable Product Testing
FRAGILITY ASSESSMENT
Establishing your product's fragility with mechanical shock testing may be critical in attaining sustainability goals. For example, depending on the product and the anticipated distribution environment, a more robust product should require less packaging than a fragile counterpart.
TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY TESTING
Temperature and humidity testing exposes samples to various simulated environmental conditions encountered during transit, storage, and in-use environments. With temperature and humidity testing, manufacturers can obtain advanced insights into how an object will respond to the environmental conditions it will encounter throughout its lifecycle.
VIBRATION AND RESONANCE TESTING
Vibration testing aims to learn how a product will respond to various mechanical inputs in the distribution or in-use environments. For Sustainability projects, Vibration testing may be a valuable tool in helping to prevent costly and Earth unfriendly returns. The testing can be performed on a product to understand its robustness or packaged product to evaluate how the system will respond in the distribution environment.
Frequently Asked Questions
Get answers to our most frequently asked questions.
Why is product testing & analysis important for businesses to meet sustainability goals?
Sustainability is vital for everyone, every business, and the Earth itself. Companies can only exist if they have adequate resources to develop, manufacture, and deliver products to their customers.
What is the typical timeline and cost for WESTPAK sustainability testing services?
Timeline and costs are project-specific. Contact us to learn more about our testing capabilities and timeline options available. WESTPAK professionals can help you meet sustainability goals.
Will sustainable material withstand the physical stresses of distribution and shipping?
Yes, we assess this using controlled Distribution Testing protocols (e.g., ISTA, ASTM D4169), which simulate hazards like drops, impacts, compression, and vibration. This process determines the packaging system’s ability to protect the product throughout the entire supply chain environment.
How does sustainable packaging perform under extreme temperature and humidity changes?
Environmental Conditioning (e.g., ASTM D4332) and specialized chambers evaluate packaging integrity under specified high/low temperature and humidity extremes. These tests are critical because moisture and heat can significantly affect the protective properties and mechanical strength of many sustainable materials.
Can sustainable packaging maintain a product's required shelf life (e.g., barrier properties)?
Yes, Accelerated Aging methods (e.g., ASTM F1980) based on the Arrhenius equation to simulate long-term effects on the material’s barrier properties in a short timeframe. This data is used to validate the packaging’s ability to maintain product integrity and safety over its claimed shelf life.
If the packaging fails a test, can WESTPAK provide recommendations for material or design optimization?
Yes, our service is focused on more than just pass/fail results; our engineers analyze the failure data to provide data-driven insights that inform material selection or design changes. We help clients optimize the packaging system to minimize product damage and meet their sustainability goals.
Accreditations:
Testing at Westpak has been accredited by A2LA to comply with ISO 17025.
Westpak testing labs are ISTA certified to perform a variety of tests.
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