Embracing Sustainable Packaging in the Consumer and Retail Sectors

With a global shift toward fighting climate change, the way we approach packaging is set to grow and change. Rather than being an alternative option, environmentally friendly packaging is only going to become more important.

Source: Lumi

Industry research indicates a great insight into the growing number of consumers that care about the packaging of their products and delivery methods:

• 77% of UK consumers state that brands should use as little packaging as possible.
• 66% said it is important to them that the packaging can be recycled.
• 49% of consumers said they would pay more for both sustainable packaging and sustainable delivery.
• 33% say they have rejected a purchase because of unsustainable packaging.

It is evident that the term sustainable packaging is clearly more than a buzzword. The urgent need to reduce plastic leakage has led manufacturers and retailers to swift action: in 2020, the top ten global FMCG firms, including the likes of Coca-Cola, Danone, PepsiCo, L’Oréal, and Unilever, set an ambitious target of 100% sustainable packaging by 2025. Source: SRGTalent

In doing so, the consumer products industry is helping to usher in a circular economy: an economic system aimed at eliminating waste and encouraging the continual use of resources.

What is Sustainable Packaging?

Simply put, it is packaging that, over time, reduces its environmental footprint and environmental impact. According to the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC), sustainable packaging is defined by being:

• Beneficial, safe, and healthy for individuals and communities throughout its life cycle
• Sourced, manufactured, transported, and recycled using renewable energy
• Manufactured using clean production technologies and best practices
• Made from materials that are healthy throughout the life cycle
• Effectively recovered and utilised in biological and/or industrial closed-loop cycles

By encompassing these definitions (as well as meeting market criteria for both performance and cost)…