laws across the globe started to demand that ‘claims’ be backed up with solid scientific evidence of environmental gains. Undoubtedly, it is in the area of science and R & D where the step-changes in packaging will come from. Already we are seeing advances in technology and innovation in packaging design that are enabling development of new packaging materials which address the concerns voiced by society for alternatives to traditional fossil fuel-based packaging materials. But is simply swapping one material for another the definition of ‘sustainable packaging’? Regrettably not - because packaging does not exist in isolation. There is a complex value chain which determines the decisions required to make, deliver, use and dispose of the packaging which surrounds consumer goods. The unseen hero of ‘sustainable packaging’ is packaging process innovation. Improvements in the areas of energy, water and waste may not seem as exciting as cutting-edge, scientifically-engineered materials, but are nevertheless essential to creating ‘sustainable packaging’. We are blessed in New Zealand with access to clean energy and abundant water supplies. This is not the case in many parts of the world, and consumer goods are a global trade. So ‘sustainable packaging’ which derives its credentials from resource efficiency can be, in the wider sense of the planet, very sustainable relative 14 MARCH 2017 to a material change, but is far less obvious to the consumer. Then there is the significant issue of product wastage. As a rule of thumb, 10 times the resources go into producing a product than into the packaging which contains the product. On no level does it make sustainable sense to comprise product integrity with packaging which is not fit for purpose. It is misguided at best and down-right irresponsible at worst, to demand that packaging be omitted, or reduced, if that would compromise the ability of the product to make it to market in perfect condition. With food waste in particular, we have an issue of global proportions. In the developed world, we waste thousands and thousands of tonnes of food produced each year. Packaging goes some way to mitigating this loss, with fast moving consumer goods companies focussing on innovation in packaging materials and design to meet changing demographic and functionality requirements. In the developing world, the lack of processing facilities and packaging technology sees thousands of tonnes of food never even making it to the consumer. The demon of packaging proliferation in the developed world is the hero of deliverable, safe and edible food in the developing world. So, does preventing product wastage constitute ‘sustainable packaging’? Unfortunately not, because enhanced functionality in packaging design and innovations in packaging materials which prevent product wastage are contradictorily responsible for a proliferation in the amount of packaging required. Perhaps we are looking in the wrong place altogether and we should be defining ‘sustainable packaging’ not so much by what it does, but more by its ability to keep on doing what it does. Recycling is in the global psyche. Across the world mature infrastructure exists to recover used packaging material. But recycling in itself is not enough. Globally the recycling industry is straining under the economic realities of recyclate commodities valued alongside virgin materials creating economic barriers which are not easily overcome - no matter how passionate or committed communities are to use, collect and recycle materials. Special interest groups and trendy recovery programmes fragment resource recovery opportunities, further undermining commercial recycling operations. Shipping recyclates across the globe is a common practice, but it is not a good environmental choice. Neither is sending used packaging to jurisdictions where there is strong evidence of a lack of social and environmental accountability for how the packaging is sorted and what happens to the rest of the discarded material. So where do we turn when ‘doing the right thing’ is not, in the bigger picture, the right thing to do? To the circular economy. The global giants of the consumer goods industries are looking at re-defining the’ takemake use-dispose’ model into a ‘make-use-recoverre make’ model, as they commit to major shifts in their business models. Packaging will be swept along by these changes, today’s negative impacts will be designed out by innovative thinking across value chains and silos will be bridged by innovative design. The circular economy is a challenge which belongs to all of us and it will render the elusive definition of ‘sustainable packaging’ redundant. COVER STORY
FT-Mar17-eMag
To see the actual publication please follow the link above