SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING
Latest Pira study finds that most consumers view sustainability in terms of reduce, reuse, recycle / Industry faces the challenge of meeting these needs while simultaneously ensuring profits
As consumers the world over become increasingly conscious about the environment and their own carbon footprint, sustainability has become a key concern for the packaging industry especially. In its new study on the future of sustainable packaging, market researcher Pira International (Leatherhead, Surrey / UK; www.pira-international.com) asserts that as the push towards more sustainable packaging intensifies in the run-up to 2020, the packaging sector will become the benchmark for all other industries. The main goal of sustainable packaging is to reduce resources and to cut down on waste and emissions. But what exactly are the challenges the industry faces and how can these be overcome?
Consumer goods represent the highest volume of packaging, according to the British researcher, which means businesses have a keen eye on ensuring consumer satisfaction. Key consumer demands, Pira found, include convenience, safety and comfort – attributes that often conflict with packaging companies’ agenda, topped by profits and survival.
Even if profits are foremost in companies’ minds, the study found that such fiscal considerations are increasingly influenced by consumers’ exposure to environmental issues, which in turn have spawned entirely new materials and processing technologies. The key sustainability feature to consumers, Pira found, is recyclability, with numerous surveys indicating that customers are willing to pay extra for a product designed as re-usable or re-used. Exploiting this attitude, companies like PepsiCo (Purchase, New York / USA; www.pepsico.com) have launched products clearly identifiable as recycled or reusable – see Plasteurope.com of 02.06.2011. Companies can yield most benefits from this attitude if they adopt one or all of three possible courses of action outlined by Pira: They can reduce packaging weight and volume, reduce or reuse waste in their plant, as well as market and promote the environmental attributes of their packaging or product. Another company taking the sustainability agenda to new heights is Germany’s Nordenia (Greven; www.nordenia.com), whose latest packaging innovations significantly cut on weight and material – see Plasteurope.com of 24.03.2011.
Several surveys have indicated that customers view sustainability in terms of three attributes: reduce, reuse and recycle. There are a wide variety of ways in which companies can address these concerns, including by manufacturing with renewable/compostable or alternatively recycled/recyclable materials, by designing their product for reuse or recycling, by eliminating components that result in volatile organic compound emissions or are otherwise unnecessary and by significantly reducing the materials used. Pira’s advice is that “by considering the impacts of packaging throughout the entire supply cycle, environmental impact can be reduced directly at each stage and indirectly at multiple stages by reducing system-wide impacts.”
At this point in time, recycling or reprocessing is the most popular waste-management strategy, Pira points out, in part because it has been widely accepted by the public, there is extensive legislation governing its rules and there is no dearth of business opportunities in the field. The key challenge in bringing to life a sustainable design in packaging, Pira says, is that environmental issues have to be addressed at the design stage already. That can be done by using solely polymers from renewable resources as well as optimising material use through selection and design. In addition, a sustainable design also requires energy-efficient production methods as well as an end-of-life solution, preferably reuse or recycling. Far from being inherently non-sustainable, the study points out that conventional packaging materials that are not biodegradable or recyclable may require just minimal design or technical innovations to bring them into line with the sustainability agenda.
For more information, see “The Future of Sustainable Packaging To 2010: Convenience vs the Environment”, Pira International 2011, details: www.pira-international.com/the-future-of-sustainable-packaging-to-2020-convenience-vs-the-environment.aspx
Contact: Stephen Hill, Tel: +44 1372 802025, E-mail: stephen.hill@pira-international.com
Consumer goods represent the highest volume of packaging, according to the British researcher, which means businesses have a keen eye on ensuring consumer satisfaction. Key consumer demands, Pira found, include convenience, safety and comfort – attributes that often conflict with packaging companies’ agenda, topped by profits and survival.
Even if profits are foremost in companies’ minds, the study found that such fiscal considerations are increasingly influenced by consumers’ exposure to environmental issues, which in turn have spawned entirely new materials and processing technologies. The key sustainability feature to consumers, Pira found, is recyclability, with numerous surveys indicating that customers are willing to pay extra for a product designed as re-usable or re-used. Exploiting this attitude, companies like PepsiCo (Purchase, New York / USA; www.pepsico.com) have launched products clearly identifiable as recycled or reusable – see Plasteurope.com of 02.06.2011. Companies can yield most benefits from this attitude if they adopt one or all of three possible courses of action outlined by Pira: They can reduce packaging weight and volume, reduce or reuse waste in their plant, as well as market and promote the environmental attributes of their packaging or product. Another company taking the sustainability agenda to new heights is Germany’s Nordenia (Greven; www.nordenia.com), whose latest packaging innovations significantly cut on weight and material – see Plasteurope.com of 24.03.2011.
Several surveys have indicated that customers view sustainability in terms of three attributes: reduce, reuse and recycle. There are a wide variety of ways in which companies can address these concerns, including by manufacturing with renewable/compostable or alternatively recycled/recyclable materials, by designing their product for reuse or recycling, by eliminating components that result in volatile organic compound emissions or are otherwise unnecessary and by significantly reducing the materials used. Pira’s advice is that “by considering the impacts of packaging throughout the entire supply cycle, environmental impact can be reduced directly at each stage and indirectly at multiple stages by reducing system-wide impacts.”
At this point in time, recycling or reprocessing is the most popular waste-management strategy, Pira points out, in part because it has been widely accepted by the public, there is extensive legislation governing its rules and there is no dearth of business opportunities in the field. The key challenge in bringing to life a sustainable design in packaging, Pira says, is that environmental issues have to be addressed at the design stage already. That can be done by using solely polymers from renewable resources as well as optimising material use through selection and design. In addition, a sustainable design also requires energy-efficient production methods as well as an end-of-life solution, preferably reuse or recycling. Far from being inherently non-sustainable, the study points out that conventional packaging materials that are not biodegradable or recyclable may require just minimal design or technical innovations to bring them into line with the sustainability agenda.
For more information, see “The Future of Sustainable Packaging To 2010: Convenience vs the Environment”, Pira International 2011, details: www.pira-international.com/the-future-of-sustainable-packaging-to-2020-convenience-vs-the-environment.aspx
Contact: Stephen Hill, Tel: +44 1372 802025, E-mail: stephen.hill@pira-international.com
08.06.2011 Plasteurope.com [219551-0]
Published on 08.06.2011