Wednesday, April 6, 2011 by Tim Greiner

The lack of information on chemicals used in a company’s supply chain can make product and packaging innovation challenging.

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Many suppliers are contractually protected from revealing the additives, colorants and other chemicals in the materials they provide. And, in some cases, your suppliers may not even know — because their suppliers aren’t telling them. Toy manufacturers certainly didn’t request lead- or cadmium-tainted toys. But they did not do enough to prevent hazards such as these from winding up in their products, either.

Peeling back the layers of supply chain chemical data is an industry-wide issue and probably won’t be solved by a single company. But there‘s no need to wait to ensure the materials you are being supplied meet your definition of sustainability.

Follow the example of Stonyfield Farm‘s recent change to packaging made from bio-based plastic for its multi-pack, organic yogurt containers. To make the polylactic acid (PLA) bio-plastic material moldable and meet the company‘s demanding packaging requirements, additives are necessary. Stonyfield didn‘t want the environmental and health benefits from its bold initiative to be undercut by the use of harmful additives deep in the supply chain — additives its packaging suppliers don‘t even need to disclose.

To protect the company‘s consumers, Pure Strategies developed a safety standard for all additives used in the new yogurt containers. Stonyfield Farm then required suppliers to sign a contract agreeing to the standard and initiated testing to ensure compliance.

Pure Strategies‘ plastics experts examined the additives Stonyfield‘s suppliers might use to make the new plant-based plastic pliable enough to work as a yogurt container — additives such as lubricants, impact modifiers, and heat stabilizers. Then Pure Strategies developed a list of chemicals that met stringent health and safety criteria, and another list of those that fell short. The end result was a plant-based cup that exceeded FDA requirements and protected Stonyfield consumers from exposure to persistent and bioaccumulative toxins, carcinogens, mutagens, and other chemical hazards.

In an era when many consumers are wary of BPA, phthalates, and other chemical hazards, defining your own standards is an excellent approach to ensuring your products are safe.

To learn more about Stonyfield‘s plant-based plastic cup, click here.