The battle rages over use of PVC clamshells

Staff -- Purchasing, 2/16/2006

The marketplace wars persist over health risks—real or perceived—from plastic packaging made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resins. But this much is true: Microsoft just stopped using PVC clamshell packs to protect new copies of its software products and several other manufacturers are following suit.

Hewlett-Packard recently removed the plastic from all external case parts and says it will eliminate remaining uses of PVC "as safer alternatives are available." Personal computer makers Apple, Dell, Sony, Sharp and Samsung have begun turning to packaging alternatives. Wal-Mart announced last October it will phase out PVC in its private label packaging over the next two years. Also, Johnson and Johnson has set a goal to eliminate PVC in primary packaging, and is actively engaged with suppliers to identify alternatives.

Lois Gibbs, executive director of the Falls Church, Va.-based Center for Health, Environment and Justice, says PVC packaging "is dangerous throughout its entire lifecycle of production, use and disposal" because the petrochemicals that make the plastic soft and pliable also have cancer-causing toxins. Greenpeace International also is active in the anti-PVC battle, complaining about the use of the resin in computers, printers and other electronics.

The anti-PVC movement is several decades old and most of the environmental arguments have been disputed for years by the Vinyl Institute. "PVC has been used in products for decades without any evidence of harm to human health," according to the Arlington, Va.-based trade group. In fact, more than 16 billion pounds valued in excess of $6 billion are produced and sold annually in North America.

Still, Joan Krajewski, environmental attorney for Microsoft, says the Redmond, Wash., software company estimates its replacement of PVC packaging with corrugated cardboard and recyclable plastic packaging will remove more than 800,000 lbs from landfills annually. And, one of the key issues among some users of PVC with environmental concerns isn't the resin itself, but their fear that additives and plasticizers can leach out of certain vinyl products in landfills or into the air during incineration.

Microsoft actually began working to eliminate PVC from protective clamshell packaging in 2003, says Jay Watts, senior manager of the package engineering management team. "As part of the project, we were able to eliminate clamshells altogether—not just the PVC but the clamshell itself—from 60-70% of our packaging, so no substitution was needed at all," he says. Those clamshells made of plastic still in use now are made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), he says, "and 25% of that resin is recycled material."