![\"Tsai](\"https:\/\/news.ncsu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Eastman6055.jpg\")
<\/a>The material itself is derived from the cellulose of sustainably managed trees, a naturally biodegradable material. However, it looks and feels like traditional plastic. These properties mean the product is certified industrial and home compostable* but maintains the ease and hygiene consumers prefer in single-use articles. Replacing traditional plastics with compostable products helps protect the environment and our world.<\/p>\n
\u200b\u201cEntirely too many single-use plastics are ending up on the side of the road, in waterways, and even in landfills where they’ll just persist for hundreds of years,\u201d said Lizz Sapia, Eastman\u2019s Growth Process Steward Center of Excellence manager. \u201cCurrent plastics aren’t a viable long-term option, but single-use plastics are here to stay from a consumer ease and hygiene perspective. Consumers love their plastics, but the research shows that they’re also concerned about the ultimate fate of these materials. The project with NC State looked at redesigning those single-use articles from a different material, one that’s compostable and has a better end-of-life story without compromising the consumer experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
The project came at an opportune time: All work was completed during the 2018-2019 academic year, before the COVID-19 pandemic reached the United States in 2020. The pandemic made to-go food even more important for eaters and restaurateurs, as dining rooms closed to protect public health. Take-out became one of the only ways to support local businesses as the coronavirus raged on.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love working with students because of the creativity and the natural passion they have for the projects they’re working on,\u201d added Sapia. \u201cThey have such great questions because they’re genuinely excited about the materials, the design process and, most importantly, the why behind the project.<\/p>\n
Designing for People and Planet<\/h2>\n
Thorough research was needed before creating the packaging. Students interviewed those who manufacture the packaging, those who would handle and pack the take-out containers \u2014 like restaurant workers \u2014 and those who would eat from them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe surprising thing about the project was the different layers of who would be using the product,\u201d said Kevin Milz, a student in the Master\u2019s of Industrial Design program. \u201cThere\u2019s Eastman, and then there\u2019s Eastman\u2019s customers \u2014 the fast food industry, which would be using these products. Then you\u2019ve got to think of the people handling it \u2014 the restaurant employees \u2014 and how efficiently they can use this. Then you\u2019ve got the end user, who is the person actually receiving the product. We had to think of all of these different levels.\u201d<\/p>\n Liu agreed, explaining: \u201cAt first you think, \u2018Oh, packaging food, it\u2019s a very simple mechanism \u2014 it\u2019s just boxes.\u2019 But then when we went deeper, we realized even the little details, the relationship between the materials and the people\u2019s experience, there are a lot of areas we can improve.\u201d<\/p>\n Senior design projects are a vital experience for many NC State students. Companies sponsor the projects, which students complete during the academic year. These projects weave together academia, industry, research and innovation. Students take on a practical, hands-on learning experience that bolsters their skills and prepares them for the workforce. Companies benefit from students\u2019 fresh perspectives and insight into new technologies.<\/p>\n Eastman\u2019s project builds upon a culture of sustainability at NC State. In a senior design project sponsored by Under Armour, four students in the Wilson College of Textiles developed a nonwoven material that incorporated down insulation waste. Short fibers that remain after processing down often end up in landfills. The students identified how to control down material in facilities and use it in a nonwoven material. They then developed a puffer jacket prototype for Under Armour using the more sustainable material.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you think it can’t be done, you should give it to a student because they don’t know that it can’t be done,\u201d said Dawn Mason, Global External Innovation Manager at Eastman.<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t the first breakthrough developed between the company and university. Results over the last eight years include 63 co-op students, 35 full-time hires and 34 invention disclosures. Eastman has invested $19 million across 11 academic departments, funding more than 100 research projects that benefit student and faculty development while advancing innovation within the company. Eastman and NC State signed a master research agreement in 2012 to streamline collaborations and in 2019 renewed it for another six years.<\/p>\n \u201cFor us, the partnership really is special,\u201d said Mason. \u201cIt really helps us inform and accelerate our innovation platforms. Over the years, we have developed what you would expect to have in a partnership versus just a supplier-customer sort of relationship. It’s much deeper than that.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2012, Eastman chose NC State as a strategic partner after a nationwide search, citing the university\u2019s leadership in partnerships \u2014 the flexibility needed to work with industry, the ability to solve real-world problems and unique assets like Centennial Campus, where today Eastman\u2019s innovation center is located steps away from NC State\u2019s main campus. Through the partnership, NC State students gain hands-on experience, and collaborations with faculty advance interdisciplinary research across the university.<\/p>\n \u201cEastman is the gold standard when it comes to impactful university-industry collaborations,\u201d said NC State Associate Vice Chancellor for Partnerships Mark Schmidt. \u201cNC State is committed to partnerships that help solve societal challenges while developing students who are prepared for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n Embodying NC State\u2019s motto of \u201cThink and Do,\u201d the food packaging project gave industrial design students insight into what type of career they might pursue. Students developed technical skills in design and manufacturing as well as marketing and research skills. As they prepared to enter the workforce, students also got to learn from and network with Eastman professionals.<\/p>\n \u201cThe reason I got into this program in general was to be able to have an opportunity to make connections with service projects or with different sponsored projects, like the one we were doing with Eastman,\u201d Milz said. \u201cYou get to see real world projects that affect other people versus just designing for ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n Madelyn Lammert, a student in the Master\u2019s of Industrial Design program, said she learned numerous lessons from working on the project, both theoretical and concrete. For example, people often pay more for products with well-designed packaging. And as someone who wants to make sustainability part of her career, Lammert said she gained valuable experience from the project.<\/p>\n \u201cI think this project was really impactful in terms of learning about the user research journey for design and helping create something that\u2019s actually going to be impactful on the world,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n By working directly with industry partners, students gain an experiential opportunity that only enhances their education.<\/p>\n \u201cOur faculty do a really good job of instructing our students, but to have it echoed by an industry sponsor, in a professional level project, that\u2019s when it really starts to sink in,\u201d said Timothy Buie, an associate professor of industrial design. \u201cEastman aligns very well with us in that regard.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn addition to the sustainability side of the project, it also highlights Eastman’s commitment to our partnership with NC State,\u201d Sapia added. \u201cWe love collaborating with the university.\u201d<\/p>\n *Certified BPI Industrial Compostable \u226410 mil film and 8 mil straw, \u226436 mil high-density foam; T\u016aV AUSTRIA-certified Industrial Compostable \u226410 mil film and \u226432 mil high-density foam; T\u016aV AUSTRIA-certified Home Compostable up to 7 mil straw and up to 32 mil foam<\/em><\/p>\n This post was originally published<\/a> in NC State News.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false,"raw":" Take-out food has been a culinary staple for decades, but traditional plastic and foamed polystyrene containers end up in landfill and are not sustainable. To combat packaging waste, NC State\u2019s College of Design worked alongside Eastman to create environmentally friendly food packaging using a new compostable material.<\/p>\n\n Eastman enlisted the College of Design to transform a new biodegradable and compostable material the company had created. Senior industrial design students created take-out containers with the entire supply chain in mind \u2014 containers that are easy to assemble, pack, eat from and dispose of. The end result promises added sustainability in the restaurant industry.<\/p>\n\n \u201cThis project really is about bringing sustainability to a market that has been overlooked for many years,\u201d said Tsai Lu Liu, the head of the Department of Graphic Design and Industrial Design at NC State\u2019s College of Design. \u201cPeople go to a restaurant, bring home food and consume the food. Maybe you use the package for 20 or 30 minutes, and the next thing you know it goes into the trash can. Then it becomes an issue to the environment. We really see the potential to make a difference, to make food packaging more sustainable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n The material itself is derived from the cellulose of sustainably managed trees, a naturally biodegradable material. However, it looks and feels like traditional plastic. These properties mean the product is certified industrial and home compostable* but maintains the ease and hygiene consumers prefer in single-use articles. Replacing traditional plastics with compostable products helps protect the environment and our world.<\/p>\n\n \u200b\u201cEntirely too many single-use plastics are ending up on the side of the road, in waterways, and even in landfills where they'll just persist for hundreds of years,\u201d said Lizz Sapia, Eastman\u2019s Growth Process Steward Center of Excellence manager. \u201cCurrent plastics aren't a viable long-term option, but single-use plastics are here to stay from a consumer ease and hygiene perspective. Consumers love their plastics, but the research shows that they're also concerned about the ultimate fate of these materials. The project with NC State looked at redesigning those single-use articles from a different material, one that's compostable and has a better end-of-life story without compromising the consumer experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n The project came at an opportune time: All work was completed during the 2018-2019 academic year, before the COVID-19 pandemic reached the United States in 2020. The pandemic made to-go food even more important for eaters and restaurateurs, as dining rooms closed to protect public health. Take-out became one of the only ways to support local businesses as the coronavirus raged on.<\/p>\n\n \u201cI love working with students because of the creativity and the natural passion they have for the projects they're working on,\u201d added Sapia. \u201cThey have such great questions because they're genuinely excited about the materials, the design process and, most importantly, the why behind the project.<\/p>\n\n Thorough research was needed before creating the packaging. Students interviewed those who manufacture the packaging, those who would handle and pack the take-out containers \u2014 like restaurant workers \u2014 and those who would eat from them.<\/p>\n\n \u201cThe surprising thing about the project was the different layers of who would be using the product,\u201d said Kevin Milz, a student in the Master\u2019s of Industrial Design program. \u201cThere\u2019s Eastman, and then there\u2019s Eastman\u2019s customers \u2014 the fast food industry, which would be using these products. Then you\u2019ve got to think of the people handling it \u2014 the restaurant employees \u2014 and how efficiently they can use this. Then you\u2019ve got the end user, who is the person actually receiving the product. We had to think of all of these different levels.\u201d<\/p>\n\n Liu agreed, explaining: \u201cAt first you think, \u2018Oh, packaging food, it\u2019s a very simple mechanism \u2014 it\u2019s just boxes.\u2019 But then when we went deeper, we realized even the little details, the relationship between the materials and the people\u2019s experience, there are a lot of areas we can improve.\u201d<\/p>\n\n Senior design projects are a vital experience for many NC State students. Companies sponsor the projects, which students complete during the academic year. These projects weave together academia, industry, research and innovation. Students take on a practical, hands-on learning experience that bolsters their skills and prepares them for the workforce. Companies benefit from students\u2019 fresh perspectives and insight into new technologies.<\/p>\n\n Eastman\u2019s project builds upon a culture of sustainability at NC State. In a senior design project sponsored by Under Armour, four students in the Wilson College of Textiles developed a nonwoven material that incorporated down insulation waste. Short fibers that remain after processing down often end up in landfills. The students identified how to control down material in facilities and use it in a nonwoven material. They then developed a puffer jacket prototype for Under Armour using the more sustainable material.<\/p>\n\n \u201cIf you think it can't be done, you should give it to a student because they don't know that it can't be done,\u201d said Dawn Mason, Global External Innovation Manager at Eastman.<\/p>\n\n This isn\u2019t the first breakthrough developed between the company and university. Results over the last eight years include 63 co-op students, 35 full-time hires and 34 invention disclosures. Eastman has invested $19 million across 11 academic departments, funding more than 100 research projects that benefit student and faculty development while advancing innovation within the company. Eastman and NC State signed a master research agreement in 2012 to streamline collaborations and in 2019 renewed it for another six years.<\/p>\n\n \u201cFor us, the partnership really is special,\u201d said Mason. \u201cIt really helps us inform and accelerate our innovation platforms. Over the years, we have developed what you would expect to have in a partnership versus just a supplier-customer sort of relationship. It's much deeper than that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n In 2012, Eastman chose NC State as a strategic partner after a nationwide search, citing the university\u2019s leadership in partnerships \u2014 the flexibility needed to work with industry, the ability to solve real-world problems and unique assets like Centennial Campus, where today Eastman\u2019s innovation center is located steps away from NC State\u2019s main campus. Through the partnership, NC State students gain hands-on experience, and collaborations with faculty advance interdisciplinary research across the university.<\/p>\n\n \u201cEastman is the gold standard when it comes to impactful university-industry collaborations,\u201d said NC State Associate Vice Chancellor for Partnerships Mark Schmidt. \u201cNC State is committed to partnerships that help solve societal challenges while developing students who are prepared for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n Embodying NC State\u2019s motto of \u201cThink and Do,\u201d the food packaging project gave industrial design students insight into what type of career they might pursue. Students developed technical skills in design and manufacturing as well as marketing and research skills. As they prepared to enter the workforce, students also got to learn from and network with Eastman professionals.<\/p>\n\n \u201cThe reason I got into this program in general was to be able to have an opportunity to make connections with service projects or with different sponsored projects, like the one we were doing with Eastman,\u201d Milz said. \u201cYou get to see real world projects that affect other people versus just designing for ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n Madelyn Lammert, a student in the Master\u2019s of Industrial Design program, said she learned numerous lessons from working on the project, both theoretical and concrete. For example, people often pay more for products with well-designed packaging. And as someone who wants to make sustainability part of her career, Lammert said she gained valuable experience from the project.<\/p>\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\nHands-on Learning<\/h2>\n
A Model for University-Industry Partnerships<\/h2>\n
Preparing Students for the Future<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/a>Designing for People and Planet<\/h2>\n\n
<\/a><\/figure>\n\nHands-on Learning<\/h2>\n\n
A Model for University-Industry Partnerships<\/h2>\n\n
Preparing Students for the Future<\/h2>\n\n