An athletic product packaged in a 100% rPET clamshell provides significant savings in virgin material and in energy use.

[10]Among the 36 packages taking home 2009/2010 Ameristar Awards from the Institute of Packaging Professionals (IoPP), [11] many boasted obvious sustainability attributes, although just one took home the 3M Sustainability Award. (See pictures of winners.) [12]

Among these winners, a clamshell for XO Athletic, [13] billed as “environmentally friendly,” was honored in the “Other Retail” category. The package was a project of green industry newcomer NextLife Packaging Group (NGP), the packaging-focused business unit of NextLife, [14] which supports, represents, and certifies a sustainable packaging supply chain.

NPG certified partner First Choice Packaging [15] and paperboard converter CardPak [16] contributed to development of the winning clamshell package. The package was designed by LucDesigns [17] and employs NextLife 100% post-consumer recycled PET from NPG network partner, Integrated Packaging Films. [18]

The new package replaces a previous design that employed polyvinyl chloride and, via recycling, saves approximately 120,000 lb of virgin plastic per year. Additionally, the package incorporates First Choice Packaging's patented Virtuweld™ [19] design, which allows the front and back parts to be snapped together, ensuring security without requiring RF or heat sealing. Thanks to the elimination of heat-sealing processes, says NPG, Virtuweld allows XO Athletic to package their products in-house with minimal equipment, saving an estimated 18,000 KWH of energy per year.

The winning XO Athletic package features a smoother surface that conforms more to the product and hangs better on displays, thanks to an innovative concave front and convex back, NPG relates. The design allows a space-saving nesting of the package which, with CardPak’s printing, is said to result in an attention-commanding shelf presence.