Proactive Packaging & Display Launches S.P.A.C.E. Program

ONTARIO, Calif.—Proactive Packaging & Display, Inc., a leading printing and box-making firm that produces high-quality color graphics for consumer products packaging and retail POS displays, has introduced its S.P.A.C.E. (Sustainable Packaging Accentuates Clean Environments) program to provide customers with a wide range of options for greener packaging.

The S.P.A.C.E. program is centered in operations at Proactive Northern Container (PNC), Proactive’s sister company based in Stockton, Calif. In addition to supporting Proactive’s Ontario, Calif., headquarters facility, PNC’s 300,000-sq.-ft. Stockton facility specializes in single-face laminated packaging and corrugated box and folding carton production. PNC creates environmentally-friendly packages with vivid graphics for a wide variety of products marketed by food, beverage, electronics, and other consumer goods companies.

“Whenever Proactive talks about packaging, it’s always in the context of sustainability,” said Gary Hartog, CEO of Proactive, in announcing his company’s S.P.A.C.E. program. “As a result, we’re currently the most recyclable company in graphics and the most sustainable packaging supplier in the United States today.”

Sustainable packaging means the development and use of packaging that results in improved patterns of resource use aimed at meeting business needs while preserving the natural environment. It involves proper package design, material choices, and the processing and disposal of boxes, containers, cartons, and displays.

PNC’s state-of-the-art packaging and printing technology includes a Bobst Microgator corrugator (manufactures corrugated fiberboard for boxes) with a cold-set Asitrade section, a Drent Goebel VSOP variable sleeve web-offset press, an Energy Sciences inline electron beam (EB)-curing station, and a Bobst Alpina folder/gluer.

With consent from its clients, Proactive adds its own Eco-Lith™ stamp to every box it makes to show that the package was created with the most sustainable graphic-packaging process available. Eco-Lith™ is Proactive’s branded guarantee that the materials used in boxes it produces are beneficial to the environment, while still delivering best-of-class print quality.

Proactive’s S.P.A.C.E. program benefits both retailers and consumers who receive packaging that is low in fiber content, free of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and welcomed by recycling centers. “Our equipment, processes, and products ensure that our customers receive the most sustainable packaging available in the market today,” explained Hartog.

Hartog said that Proactive’s S.P.A.C.E. program helps its customers comply with Wal-Mart’s packaging mandates within the retail giant’s “Sustainability Index.” The index, announced in July 2009, makes transparent the doings of Wal-Mart’s string of 100,000 suppliers.