If you’re interested in either environmentally-friendly products or new financial trends, then you should keep your eye on the new sustainable packaging trend. Many companies are opting to use sustainable packaging, which means there are more manufacturers developing more types of sustainable packaging options. If you’ve considered using sustainable packaging for your products, or have been looking for a way to make your company a bit more environmentally-friendly, then now is definitely the time to look into sustainable packaging. In this article we’ll go over not just the financial trend of sustainable packaging, but also the best announcements and coolest highlights in sustainable packaging this month.
What is Sustainable Packaging?
First, let’s get the explanation of sustainable packaging out of the way. Sustainable packaging is packaging used to wrap, ship, store or shelf products that is eco-friendly.
It’s typically made from either HDPE plastic, PET plastic, paper or cardboard. These materials can be recycled and then re-used to make new packaging, or other products entirely. Cardboard will retain its properties and their quality throughout the duration of its use and life, but plastics break down and degrade the more that they’re melted down and reused. So that means that they can only be used a limited number of times before they ultimately end up in a landfill or incinerator.
There are other options, however. Compostable packaging made from a type of starch known as PLE is often used because it displays a lot of the qualities of plastic, but is biodegradable because it’s made of plant-based materials. It can be made into packaging, utensils or even food storage containers. Most people won’t be able to tell the difference between it and other forms of plastic because of the advanced technology used to make it, and it’s been certified as safe to use in compost.
Why Use Sustainable Packaging?
In a poll conducted in Australia, it was revealed that 89% of the Australian consumer market was concerned about the waste that packaging creates, 78% of them agreed that compostable packaging was an ideal solution to eliminate plastic waste, and 79% of them said that they believe that the federal government should favour encouraging companies to use compostable packaging rather than recyclable packaging.
Estimates from 2018 say that only 23% of plastic packaging is recycled, with the rest being sent to landfills and such. In 2021 it’s estimated that the level of flexible packaging has reached an astonishing 3.15 million tons worldwide. This is partially due to online shopping popularity and the ability to have products delivered.
The fashion industry, in particular is notorious for its contribution to plastic waste. It’s estimated that it generates 150 billion plastic bags and packages annually. A poll conducted on Italians found that 86% of them confessed to being concerned about the plastic waste that their clothing produced, and they all said they’d prefer a compostable bag to a plastic bag. This means that there’s a market for sustainable packaging, and that customers are eager to buy it.
Current Sustainable Packaging Financial Trends
It’s no secret in the business sector that greenhouse emissions primarily come from the manufacturing and packaging of consumer goods. In fact, 45% of all GHG emissions come from both manufacturing and using consumer goods. The top 10 companies that make the most plastic pollution in the world also happen to be companies that produce consumer goods.
Because of this, many big companies who produce consumer goods are making commitments to more sustainable packaging. To make sure that these companies succeed with their sustainable packaging goals, they need to spend time to research and understand things like:
- Infrastructure
- Legislature
- Technology
- Consumers
- The retailers that sell their goods
Companies are also minding the 4 Rs of sustainability:
- REDUCE: Use concentrated products and such to reduce the amount of packaging required
- RE-USE: Bottles that can be refilled in stores or at home
- REPLACE: Use PCR (Post Consumer Recycled) materials
- RECYCLE: Create products that can be easily recycled
The sustainable packaging industry is projected to rise at a CAGR of 8% and raise by around $85 billion between 2022-2028. Several factors at once created the rise in demand for sustainable packaging, such as the rise in e-commerce, government initiatives aimed at reducing packaging waste, and the demand from the food industry for packaging materials. Sustainable packaging works to simultaneously add value to a company’s brand while also protecting the product, which is another reason that companies are attracted to it. The entire sustainable packaging industry stands to benefit from this trend as consumers become more aware of sustainable packaging and feel more favourable towards it.
Consumer awareness is a driving factor behind the sustainable packaging industry because more and more consumers are interested in learning not only a product’s value, but also about sustainability concerns, pricing, and environmental concerns, among other things. So the more that companies make consumers aware of the environmental impact of various plastic packages, the more they’ll flock towards sustainable packaging.
Though the consumers and retailers are currently driving the market, sustainable packaging is still new and consumers are still a bit confused by it. That is to say, they don’t know the full extent of their impact on the market, or even what makes a product sustainable. Many consumers claim to be concerned with environmental factors, but either see sustainable packaging or products as being too expensive or are unwilling to put in the extra effort to use sustainable packaging. At this time only around 14% of consumers in the EU, and 8% in the US, use environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) factors when making their purchasing decisions. That number is expected to go up in coming years, especially with more widespread use of sustainable packaging.
There are some major businesses involved in the sustainable packaging industry. Nestle pledged that it would donate $2 billion in an effort to convert virgin plastic packaging on the market to forms of recyclable packaging. This funding has made major advances in the sustainable packaging market.
Other big businesses involved in the sustainable packaging sector include Amcor Plc, Ardagh Group SA, Ball Corporation, BASF, Mondi Plc, Sealed Air Corporation, Sonoco Products Company, Smurfit Kappa Group PLC, TetraPak International SA and the Westrock Company.
Sustainable packaging is being used on a worldwide scale, with its presence being noticed in many geographic regions such as North America (Canada, and the United States), Europe (the UK, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, etc.), and Asia Pacific (Japan, China, India, etc.), among other regions.
Sustainable Packaging Highlights
Here are a few of the highlights in sustainable packaging this month.
Environmental Packaging Summit 2022
On November 2-3rd, at the Coventry Building Society Area, the Environmental Packaging Summit took place. It’s a yearly event that allows people to discuss different opportunities and innovations in the sustainable packaging industry.
Some of the speakers included the head of climate and sustainability at Coca Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP), Farech’s manager of group sustainability and external affairs, Clover Walton, PragmatIC’s Joshua Young, and Appetite Creative Solution’s Jenny Stanley.
There was a panel involving the Defra’s lead on DRS (Deposit Return Schemes), David Gell, Matthew Dean of Suntory Beverage and Foods, and Tom Giddings, the executive director of Alupro.
This was a great chance for consumers to learn more about the challenges the industry faces, and it was an opportunity for businesses to learn about innovations designed to reduce packaging waste.
Coca-Cola Paper Packaging
When the Coca-Cola company makes a big move, everyone in the business and finance sector takes note. This is because the company is so large and well-known. They’re worth around $87 billion, and sell products worldwide.
They’ve announced that they’re going to stop using plastic rings on their multi-packs of soda, and replace them with paper rings instead. This is of course designed to reduce the environmental impact of plastic rings. (We’ve all seen the pictures and videos of turtles stuck in the plastic rings that prompted us to cut them, right?) This change is expected to remove around 75,000 pounds of plastic waste from around 3.1 cases of soda- per year.
This is a great Eco-conscious move because paper is more recyclable and biodegradable than plastic. The paper is more likely to make its way to recycling centres, and barring that it would theoretically biodegrade if someone does toss the paper rings on the ground and litter.
Sustainable Packaging in the Cannabis Industry
The cannabis industry is booming, but one thing that most people don’t really consider is that it produces tons of single-use, wasteful plastic packaging. Many cannabis retailers are looking into sustainable mediums for their packaging and testing out different packaging options.
Some of the options that are being utilized are paperboard and glass instead of plastic and metal. There is much contradiction in the industry about upstream vs. Downstream environmental impacts of these resources, but overall the downstream impact of paperboard and glass is far lower than that of plastic. This means that they’re less likely to cause detrimental environmental impact if it’s to wind up in a stream somewhere.
Nivea Announces New Sustainable and Circular Packaging
Nivea is typically known for its blue bottles and packaging, but that’s no longer the driving factor behind the company’s brand. You’ll notice more and more that their product packaging will take on a new look. They’re also trying to create product formulas that leave behind a smaller carbon footprint. So, they’re trying to be a more environmentally-friendly company overall.
They’ve set a goal of reducing their emissions by 30% by the year 2025, which makes their green initiative one of the most ambitious in the whole industry. When it comes to their packaging, they’re trying to use “Fully Circular Packaging”. This means that their aim is to eliminate virgin plastic use in their packaging and replace it with reusable, refillable and recyclable packaging by 2025.
During this transition, Nivea has created the first aerosol can to made with 100% recycled aluminium that features a revolutionary valve that reduces its aerosol emissions while also extending the life of the product. They’ve created a refillable, reusable dispenser for hand soap. Two more of their products (a jar with bio-based material and plastic, as well as a more lightweight bottle for their shower gel made from 96% recycled materials) has reduced virgin plastic use. They also recently created a paper carton with one that features a transfer metallization embellishment that makes the packaging recyclable.
Nivea introduced a line of shower gel products in 2020 called Shower Fresh Blends, which are 90% naturally derived and 98% biodegradable, according to Nivea’s Global Marketing Director, Tracy Freehan. They’re also made from 97% recycled PET (rPET). This change has reduced around 150 tons of virgin plastic annually.
Just this year (2022) they re-branded and relaunched their shower gel lines. The updated bottle is now made from 98% recycled plastic, and it’s 26% lighter. This reduces the emissions released while producing the packaging by 32%. The shower gels themselves are 99% biodegradable and don’t contain microplastics. Additionally, the new cap is designed to be turned upside down, so you can get more of the product out of it.
Orkun Kaymakci, of Packaging Development and Plastics Technology said “Managing the availability and the procurement of the materials was a challenging task that we successfully overcame. Additionally, as quality is of the utmost importance to us, we went through many testing rounds and collaborated with our external partners for the development of PCR materials, resulting in a very high quality we are proud of.”
They also offer two different refillable products. Both their Protect & Care Hydrating After Shave Balm and their Sensitive Skin After Shave Balm come in 100-ml refillable porcelain bottles. They even collaborated with the German DM drugstore chain in August 2020 to introduce a kiosk to refill bottles. This was done in an effort to make refills quick, easy and convenient so that more people would make use of the refillable feature of the bottles. Customers were allowed to choose from one of three different products and use a refillable plastic bottle. A special label was printed to make payment for the bottles easy, and a bar code on the bottle allowed customers to get 3 refills.
At Labelservice we help customers with all types of eco-friendly labels. If we can help you in this green revolution then please get in touch.