Manufacturing
new products. On the contrary, Clark and his team are looking at sustainability far beyond R&D, with supply chains one particular area of focus. Working with groups like Sedex and EcoVadis, Amcor has battled to tidy its partnerships, introducing a supplier code of conduct and encouraging water-saving and waste- management schemes. In a similar vein, the company has developed ‘ASSET’, a life cycle assessment service that allows customers to understand the carbon footprint of Amcor’s packaging from the factory gate onward. The point, Clark says, is clear. “This allows customers to compare the product we’re offering them with their current product, and other alternatives,” he explains, “so that they can be assured that the product they’re selecting has a beneficial footprint.”
‘ASSET’ is Amcor’s packaging life cycle assessment service.
Showing your metal Spend long scrolling Amcor’s website and it’s clear that the company’s sustainability mission is largely centred on its products. Encompassing everything from smoothie pouches to plastic shrink wrap for bottled water, practically all its packaging now boasts some form of planet-boosting trickery. A case in point is the company’s AmLite HeatFlex range, used among other things to warm food in microwaves. Until now, this heat-resistant packaging was made from various layers of different materials. Some, like those that combined plastic with aluminium foil, weren’t very sustainable. But by redesigning the package – and dumping aluminium – Clark now says it’s “fully recyclable”. Nor is the AmLite HeatFlex, already used by Mars and Nestlé, unique. Other Amcor products have made a similar journey towards a green tomorrow. That includes AmPrima, made with recycle-ready films, and Eco-Tite, a meat packaging product now free from nasty polyvinylidene chloride. Not that Clark and his team are sacrificing sustainability for robustness. In a competitive field like packaging, he says it’s vital that Amcor’s offerings balance sustainability with performance. In part, Amcor achieves this trick by working closely with its customers. “We’re well aligned in terms of strategy,” Clark says of Amcor and its clients. “We then work with our customers to determine the products that they’re most focused on transitioning. We have the scope and scale to develop those platforms on a global basis.” More broadly, Amcor also contributes to pan-industry initiatives, notably the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy. This broad-brush approach probably makes sense.
With its ambitious 2025 pledge looming in the distance, Amcor couldn’t hope to make progress alone. Nor could it hope to fulfil its green aspirations solely via
Ingredients Insight /
www.ingredients-insight.com
“In the long run, I think that more people and companies are seeing that this is the right way to go. And as those regulations come into play, and as consumer demands change, we’ll continue to see more sustainable products.”
Green with envy Unsurprisingly as Amcor’s sustainability boss, David Clark is ultimately focused on the environmental impact of his employer’s output. Yet, given Amcor is driven by the profit motive and indeed enjoyed revenue of $12.8bn in 2021, does he feel a tension between making green and going green? Clark suggests not. Of course, going green does have some initial costs – non-recyclable packaging isn’t going to disappear itself. But over the longer term, Clark argues that the investment is worthwhile. “In the long run, I think that more people and companies are seeing that this is the right way to go,” he says. “And as those regulations come into play, and as consumer demands change, we’ll continue to see more sustainable products.” Apart from anything else, the fact that the sustainable packaging industry is due to enjoy CAGR of 7.55% from 2022-7 – according to data from Mordor Intelligence – suggests this optimism is well founded. And beyond the market as a whole, Amcor itself is continuing to bank on a similar prospectus. Beyond its 2025 green commitment – which Clark stresses is very much a work in progress – Amcor also hopes to be totally net zero by the middle of the century. “We’re right now working on developing exactly what those targets will be,” he says, “ensuring that they line up with our customers and other stakeholders.” Time, Clark adds, is of the essence. From heatwaves in Europe to floods in South Asia, the time for action is now. Lucky, then, that Amcor is making it easier than ever for individual consumers to recycle their way to a better world. ●
$12.8bn
Amcor’s revenue in 2021.
Amcor 75
Amcor
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