Action Research Project Topic for 2020-2021 - MSTA

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Standard VI
            Action Research Project
             Topic for 2020–2021
   Ecofriendly / Sustainable Packaging Or Packing
Introduction:                                             Packing is selecting and using proper material
    You must have heard about ‘PEANUT’, the           for placing product for transport and storage to
turtle who suffered because it got entangled in       ensure safety but not for a display. A person can
the ring of a six-pack holder. It did continue to     also pack clothes and other goods for a holiday
grow but lost aerodynamic shape of the body           or moving to a new house.
and became vulnerable to predator attacks. You            Words ‘packing and packaging’ are confusing
might also have heard about how in Iceland ‘Say       because they both start the same way with the
no to toothpaste with a box’ movement made            root word being pack and they both are used in
manufacturers change the packaging strategy.          the same context. The difference between packing
    How many of us pack paratha in aluminium          and packaging is that the ‘packing’ provides the
foil or sandwich in a cling film? Even such habits    protective wrapping of goods to transport but do
add considerable volume to solid waste over a         not display the products. ‘Packaging’ is used for
period of time. Or our general observation is that,   the protection of goods but also display it for the
we cannot squeeze out the last bit of toothpaste      retail market.
or facewash or sunscreen from the plastic tube
and it simply goes waste. The amount of packing       Objectives of packing
materials we receive from online delivery is huge     and packaging:
as compared to actual material ordered.                   To Provide Physical Protection: Packaging
    With increasing urbanisation and changing         of objects ensures that they are protected against
lifestyle, packing and packaging has become an        vibration, temperature, shock, compression,
important part of our lives for delivery of goods.    deterioration in quality etc. Packing and
But it is proving to be a necessary evil. We need     packaging also protect the products against theft,
to find out sustainable solution for this.            leakage, pilferage, breakage, dust, moisture,
                                                      bright light etc.
Packing and Packaging:                                    To Provide Convenience: Packing and
    Meaning: Packaging is the science, art, and       packaging also add to the convenience in handling,
technology of enclosing or protecting products        display, opening, distribution, transportation,
for distribution, storage, sale and use. Packaging    storage, sale, use, reuse and disposal. Packages
also refers to the process of design, evaluation      with easy to carry handles, soft squeezed tubes,
and production of packages. In short, Packaging       metallic containers, conveniently placed nozzles
can be described as a coordinated system of           etc. are all examples of this.
preparing goods for transport, warehousing,               To Provide Containment: Small objects are
logistics, sale and end use.                          typically put together in one package for reasons

156    Dr. Homi Bhabha Balvaidnyanik Competition | Standard VI | English Medium
of efficiency and economy. For example, a single     Advantages of Packing
bag of 1000 marbles require less physical handling   and Packaging:
than 1000 single marbles. Liquids, powders,              The primary packaging advantage is to
granular materials etc. need containment.            protect the product in various ways, including:
    To Provide Portion Control: In the medicinal         Keeping products fresh longer: Many food
and pharmaceutical field, the precise amount of      products — from bread to cookies — stay fresher
contents is needed to control usage. It also helps   when sealed in packaging.
in the control of inventory.                             Preventing      breakage    and     wear-and-
                                                     tear: Packaging keeps fluids like ink and perfume
Objectives of packaging:                             from evaporating. Paper becomes discoloured
    To Enable Marketing: Good packaging along        and glue unusable when exposed to the air, but
with attractive labelling are used by sellers to     keeps for years in its packaging. Items that could
promote the products to potential buyers. The        be sold without packaging — like stuffed animals
shape, size, colour, appearance etc. are designed    and other toys — are shielded from the dings and
to attract the attention of potential buyers.        dirt they encounter during shipping or sitting on
    To Convey Message: Information relating to       store shelves.
the raw materials used, the type of manufacturing        Making shipping easier: There are distinct
process, usage instructions, use by date etc. are    advantages of packaging in logistics. Items that
all very important and should be conveyed to the     are boxed can be stacked and transported more
users. Manufacturers print such information on       easily than those that are loose.
the packages.                                            Apart from this packaging also helps
    To Enable Product Identification: Packing        in arranging display as well as selection of
and packaging enable a product to have its own       product.
identity. This is done by designing a unique and         Packing that fulfils the objectives and
distinct package through the effective use of        advantage criteria can be considered good
colours, shapes, graphics etc. Such identification   packing or packaging. A good packaging should
and distinction are very essential in the present    be attractive at the same time easy to handle
situation of intense competition and product         and dispose off too. It should be economical in
clutter. E. g. Calcium Sandoz bottles, Kinderjoy.    terms of cost, weight and environmental effects.
    To Enhance Profits: Since consumers are          It should display information regarding contents,
willing to pay a higher price for neatly packaged    handling, safety measures, cost, expiry date etc.
goods, there will be higher profit realization.          Materials used: Different types of materials
Moreover, packaged goods reduce the cost of          might be used for packing or packaging.
handling, transportation, distribution etc. and          Wood, metals, plastics, paper, glass,
also cut down wastage and thereby increase           earthenware, gunny bags, straw baskets,
profits.                                             polyester etc. are a few examples. Selection
    To Enable Self-Service Sales: The present        of material depends on several factors apart
trend in retailing is effective display and self-    from budget or estimated production cost.
service sales. Products require effective packing    It depends on the nature of product (liquid,
for self-service sales.                              solid etc.), shelf life, temperature, distance to
    To Enhance Brand Image: Attractive packing       be covered for delivery, transport facilities,
and packaging in a consistent manner over a long     climate etc.
time enhances the brand image of the product.            A packing or packaging may be made up
                                                     of single material like plastic bottle or mixed

                   Dr. Homi Bhabha Balvaidnyanik Competition | Standard VI | English Medium       157
material like Tetra packs or notebook cover or        when handled in the store.
cover of paperback version of a book.                     Difficulty of recycling: Some communities
                                                      don’t provide recycling; those that do require
Types of Packaging:                                   households to follow rules such as collapsing
   Basic classification can be given as Primary,      boxes, making sure items are clean of food debris
secondary and tertiary packaging.                     and leaving lids on or removing them, etc. When
   Primary packaging is the wrapping or container     people don’t follow these rules, it requires manual
handled by consumer.                                  handling of materials which is costly and slows
   Secondary packaging is corrugated boxes or         down the process.
similar containers used to group primary packages         Mixed material packaging is difficult to
and packing material like bubble wrap etc that is     recycle, though it is energy efficient. Ex. Tetra
used to keep primary packages in place without        packs.
damage.                                                   Packaging requires extra room in shipping:
   Tertiary packaging includes wooden pellets         While square and rectangular-shaped boxes stack
or containers that carry secondary packages           neatly and efficiently, they do take up more room.
together.                                             It also adds to weight of the product. For E. g.
                                                      a 400 g cereal box like corn flex or oats, ratio of
   Points to be considered while designing a          package weight to product is almost 23%!
package:                                                  Reducing packaging affects perceptions: The
   l D esign, Appearance, Convenience, Reuse,        push to use less packaging — which saves cost
      Cost.                                           and raw materials — also makes consumers
   Tests a packaging has to go through before         think they’re getting less product, even when the
being selected:                                       amounts are the same, but larger packaging was
   Several tests like Drop test, Vibration tests,     previously used to give the appearance of greater
Rolling test, Inclined impact test etc. are carried   value.
out to check                                              Landfill impact: Packaging is responsible for
   Durability of the material to be used:             about one third of the municipal waste. Some
Packaging is also tested for corrosion by salt        waste can be recycled, but many materials are
spray or penetration of sand and dust or even         not appropriate for recycling. Post-consumer
catching moisture in rains.                           recycled content is often usable only in specific
                                                      contexts. For instance, many types of recycled
Disadvantages of Packing                              plastic may not be used in food containers, even
and Packaging:                                        if the original plastic came from food containers.
    While packaging does improve safety, offer        Much of the waste produced by packaging ends
convenience and reduce theft, it also comes with      up in a landfill.
a number of disadvantages                                 Overpackaging: Over-Packaging describes a
    Cost: The more it costs to package a product,     product that is wrapped in multiple layers of
the higher will be the consumer price.                materials, that is either unnecessary or unwanted.
    Durability of some materials: Generally, the      An example of this is wrapping a small item in
cheapest materials are also the least durable,        plastic, surrounding it with an air cushion, placing
like paper and plastic. Flexible packaging such       it in a box, and then placing that box into a
as paper, cardboard and thin plastic — like those     larger box for distribution. This leads to increase
that allow “windows” to see the product — can         in cost, shipping load and most importantly
be crushed, dented or torn during shipping or         proves harmful for the environment. With the

158    Dr. Homi Bhabha Balvaidnyanik Competition | Standard VI | English Medium
boom of E-commerce in the 21st century, the               The ‘3 R’ mantra has to be applied here too.
amount of packaging used for the transport of             Reduce proves better than Reuse and Reuse
goods has dramatically increased. Most online         better than Recycle.
store are found to be guilty for supplying more          e can select product with minimal packing
                                                      l W
packaging material than necessary for a product.        and packaging
The food industry also contributes negatively to         euse the material received as packing or
                                                      l R
the environment. An example is a dozen apples           packaging. E.g. gone are the days where people
encased in a plastic clamshell. While there are         used to clean milk bags and reuse those. Or
benefits to this, the negative effects on the           choose an online vendor that has take-away
environment outweigh the benefits by far.               policy for packing material.
    Production footprint: Packaging also                 euse is better because it reduces the utilisation
                                                      l R
use resources in production. One pound of               of resources that might happen in recycling.
polystyrene (Styrofoam) uses about two pounds            ecycling is better than adding waste in
                                                      l R
of petroleum stock. Production also requires            landfills. Some packaging materials can be
energy, usually sourced from burning fossil fuels       recycled an infinite number of times, others
and may produce air and water pollution. E.             just 2 or 3 times. Let’s break down the lifespan
g. using glass bottles is eco-friendly as long as       of some of the most commonly used packaging
glass is reused. For production of glass, silica is     materials:
required. Sand is a resource. Also, transporting      l Paper – 5 to 7 times
sand to the factory and conversion of sand to         l Cardboard – 3 to 4 times
glass needs lot of energy that is derived mostly      l Glass – Infinite
from fossil fuels.                                    l Plastic – Once
    The direct or indirect impacts of packaging       l Polystyrene – Once
on the environment include soil degradation,             luminium, copper and other metals –
                                                      l A
water pollution and the sharp reduction of scarce       Infinite
resources such as forests, solid waste pollution
and toxic chemical pollution. It seriously affects    Some examples of innovative recycling:
the sustainable utilisation of resources and              ike, a leading sportswear company uses plastic
                                                       l N
environment.                                              to kit out the U.S. National Soccer Team and
    The large amount of waste returned by                 every team uniform is made from at least 16
oceans we see on seaside mainly after stormy              plastic bottles for its shirts, socks and shorts
weather, actually originates from land-based              since 2010.
resources. It mainly comprises of packages            l    se of corrugated sheets for making foldable
                                                          U
thoughtlessly disposed on land. One of the                beds for isolation wards in COVID 19 pandemic
reasons is unavailability of proper disposal              is another good example.
stations and ignorance. The victims of this waste     l    ollection of plastic by Mr. Kaustubh
                                                          C
are innocent animals like Peanut the turtle or            Tamhankar from Thane for production
any stray herbivore that consumes plastic.                of packaging material used as for stuffing
What is the solution?                                     secondary packages.
   Society has learned the hard way that
convenient packaging was inconvenient to the          Ecofriendly / sustainable packaging or packing:
planet. The only probable solution is to try to       Eco-friendly or Green packaging is biodegradable,
minimise packing and packaging materials and          recyclable, reusable, non-toxic, made from recycled
go for sustainable options.                           products, based on biomass or natural products

                   Dr. Homi Bhabha Balvaidnyanik Competition | Standard VI | English Medium           159
or manufactured through low-impact means. It is      l Mention those in the project.
advantageous because it is biodegradable or made     PART 2
from more sustainable, faster-replenishing natural      bserve various packing/ packaging materials
                                                     l O
products like bamboo. Bamboo, for instance, can        and designs of various products around
be harvested for paper and other materials every       you. It may be at home like bottles/tubes/
two-to-three years, versus upwards of 60 years         sachets/boxes etc. or at malls or at fast food
for a new tree to grow.                                restaurants like pizza/burger stalls. It can be
                                                       anything from packaging for food material/
Some examples of eco-friendly packing and              toileteries/cleaners/stationery items/clothes/
packaging:                                             shoes/jewellery etc.
   raditional method of packing food in leaves of
l T                                                     elect any one and suggest improved design to
                                                     l S
  canna or banana or Palash and Sal leaves.            avoid wastage or improvement or sustainable
   ld Milk bottle system of Aarey, the example
l O                                                    option for packaging material.
  of reusable packing and return policy of the          ake care that the solution is economically
                                                     l T
  manufacturer.                                        viable and materials are locally available.
   ompostable sauce sachets made up of
l C
  seaweeds                                                                     OR
l Newspaper egg carton                                     PART 2
   eusable shoe box cum bag by Puma. Reducing
l R                                                  l    uggest innovative way of reuse or recycling of
                                                         S
  resources for packaging                                any one of the packing or packaging material.
   lantable packaging made up of biodegradable
l P                                                  l   Write report.
  materials impregnated with organic seeds.
l Edible water bubbles
    Designing zero wastage container/dispenser       Please note:
can be another aspect of reducing waste. For         l    here are TWO parts of the project. Both
                                                         T
E. g. mechanical dispenser for toothpaste that           have to be done.
used to be a part of Indian households to squeeze    l    art 1 of the project is common for all projects.
                                                         P
out last bit of toothpaste.                              It needs to be done at home.
    A kitchen tissue dispenser gives away a large    l    ou can choose ANY 1 option from the options
                                                         Y
piece of towel which may not be necessary every          given as Part 2.
time. Thus, can be improved. These are a few         l    emember the main theme of the project is
                                                         R
examples.                                                packing and packaging. Your work MUST be
                                                         related to packing or packaging.
What students have to do:                            l    e need to find solution to the issue. We are
                                                         W
    Read the information thoroughly                      NOT focussing on effects of this material on
PART 1                                                   environment under the theme suggested.
   tudy the packing and packaging waste created
l S                                                  l    onsidering pandemic, avoid survey. If
                                                         C
  at your home.                                          necessary, you can use ‘Google Forms’ to
   ind out the possibilities of reducing these.
l F                                                      conduct the survey. You can conduct interviews
  This can be done in several ways like, selecting       if required, telephonically.
  products with least packaging/ changing                                            Ref.: www.google.com
  packing habits/avoiding small packages
  of snacks/reduce online shopping where
  unnecessary packaging waste reaches home.

160    Dr. Homi Bhabha Balvaidnyanik Competition | Standard VI | English Medium
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