Kickstart: Shoppers have a beef with new packaging

One big question that comes up when discussing sustainable packaging is whether consumers are willing to put up with changes to their familiar containers. One scenario in the United Kingdom is playing out now, and it turns out that at least some very vocal buyers aren't going along with it.

U.K.-based retailer Sainsbury's rolled out new packaging for its ground beef — or minced beef as it's called there — using vacuum packs that would use 55 percent less plastic than traditional trays with film covering.

It would, Sainsbury's said in a February news release, save 450 metric tons of plastic use each year.

But on social media and traditional news sites, consumers complained that the vacuum sealing changed the texture of the meat so it came out all in one clump so it was harder to break up and took longer to cook.

"I get that we need to use less plastic," shopper Vicki Cole told BBC Business. "But unless they find an alternative that's going to work, they're going to lose customers because I shan't be buying it from there."

The plastics industry is going to have more opportunities to replace metal in electric vehicle charging stations — thousands of more opportunities as Walmart announces plans to create its own network of fast chargers.

"By 2030, we intend to build our own EV fast-charging network at thousands of Walmart and Sam's Club locations coast to coast," Vishal Kapadia, senior vice president of energy transformation for the Arkansas-based retailer, said in an April 6 news release. "This would be in addition to the almost 1,300 EV fast-charging stations we already have available at more than 280 U.S. facilities."

Walmart notes it has a location within 10 miles of 90 percent of Americans, which makes it "uniquely positioned" to offer charges to urban, rural and suburban residents.

Obviously, Walmart sees a good business opportunity in the network. Users are more likely to do their shopping at the company's stores while plugged in to chargers.

There are several uses of plastics in functional electronics and other components of EV chargers and materials companies have been seeking other opportunities to replace structural and decorative metal, as PN's Sarah Kominek wrote earlier this year.

Sometimes buying used simply makes sense — especially when used equipment is available now and deliveries of new machinery are delayed for weeks.

The COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain problems associated with it have helped fuel a surge in used equipment sales that prompted Arlington Machinery Inc. to move from Elk Grove Village, Ill., into a new location in Lake Zurich, Ill., that triples its space.

"Because of the supply constraints from COVID, a lot of companies had to turn to used equipment that wouldn't normally," President Alan Clarke told PN's Catherine Kavanaugh. "The new customers that came to us in that time had a lot of success with used machines, so going forward there might be some growth from this."