Coca-Cola Awards MSU Nearly Half Million Dollars to Establish Packaging & Sustainability Center

by Climate Weekly – Feb. 10, 2009

The Coca-Cola Company has awarded Michigan State University's (MSU) College of Agriculture and Natural Resources a $400,000 grant to help establish a packaging innovation and sustainability center.

The center, which will be located at MSU's School of Packaging, will house a think tank focused on measuring and reducing the environmental impact of packaging and on the promotion of sustainable packaging practices throughout the product lifecycle, Coca-Cola explained. It will also combine non-proprietary research with proprietary work by industry partners in the hopes of developing innovative packaging solutions.

"By bringing together university and industry resources in supply chain, packaging and engineering, this center will be able to effectively address issues of sustainability, discover environmentally and economically operative solutions and consider new ways to manage environmental impact throughout the value chain," said Elvin Lashbrooke, interim dean of the Eli Broad College of Business at MSU, which will also be involved with the new center.

In addition to featuring state-of-the-art technology for research and testing of packaging materials, MSU will offer academic, outreach, and continuing education programs focused on packaging. The center also plans to open research and development centers in Dubai and Shanghai, which will include education and training facilities.