Sustainability Packaging Materials Sustainability
Optimisation, not minimisation
Stuart Roberts, European director of marketing at innovative packaging solutions company Sealed Air, talks to about how companies can develop sustainable packaging processes, while also improving operational practices and reducing costs.
W
ith current consumer perceptions focusing on packaging waste, a number of manufacturers,
retailers and regulators have introduced initiatives to minimise packaging. However, this is increasingly being proven to lead to greater economic and environmental impacts. Sustainability leaders are realis- ing the key is to invest in quality packag- ing solutions that are optimised to provide product protection across the supply chain. Packaging performs an important job in
terms of helping to protect a product and helping to sell a product. The environmental impact of a product that is packaged is typically much greater than the pack- aging itself, and product damaged during shipping offsets any gains in reducing packaging. Yet compa- nies are under growing pressure to improve packaging efficiencies. Consumers want companies to use less packaging and packaging that is perceived to be more environ- mentally friendly, such as packaging derived from renewable sources.
PACKAGING REGULATIONS
Introduced in 1994, The EU Packag- ing Directive specifies that packag- ing volume and weight must be the minimum amount necessary to maintain safety, hygiene and accept- ance of the packaged product. It also speci- fies that packaging must be manufactured to permit reuse or recovery when packaging waste is disposed of. The Directive is being reviewed in 2014, and it can be assumed
22 August 2012 Storage Handling Distribution
that the European Parliament will build on these specifications by introducing further requirements for companies to improve packaging sustainability. This provides companies with a significant challenge. Using less packaging can, potentially, increase the risk of product dam- age, while renewable packag- ing can sometimes prove
When considering sustainability and how to improve environmental compliance, it can be easy for companies to purely focus on paper-based or renewable packaging, believing that plastic or moulded foam do not offer much in terms of environmental compliance. This is wrong. Innovations in packaging can often mean that plastic or moulded foam packaging can offer greater environmental performance than paper or renewable packaging materials.
UNPACKING GREEN PERFORMANCE
costly and not always offer fit-for-purpose product protection. To meet this challenge, companies should take an analytical approach when reviewing the role and performance of their tertiary packaging.
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Looking first at the role and performance of their current packaging is the only way that companies can truly improve sustain- able packaging practices. Furthermore, this approach can often help companies to realise financial savings. If companies evaluate the performance requirements of their tertiary packaging and the variables that impact on performance requirements, they can determine and optimise the best-fit packaging solution. This will help companies to take their first step towards improving sustainability, as they’ll be able to effectively reduce packaging material volumes, while maximising product protection. Sealed Air has developed a unique process of evalu- ation known as Packag- ing Value Analysis (PVA). Sealed Air performs a number of tests, in-line with standards set out by the International Safe Transit Association (ISTA), to ensure the packaging solution will protect the product in ‘real’ terms. Before the testing procedure begins,
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