#sustainability #packaginginnovation #digitalmarketing
#sustainablepackaging #ecofriendly #makeadifference #savetheplanet"
Click here to read the article https://henning-weigand-yahoo.blogspot.com/2021/01/how-plastics-waste-could-become-such.html
Although sustainability seems clear and straightforward on the first look, it can in many cases mean different things, depending on the focus. Therefore it is important to make ourselves clear, what the main thing is, which we want to achieve: Do we want to have the lowest possible Carbon footprint or do we want to have the least possible plastics waste or something else. Of course, in the ideal case we minimize both, Carbon and Plastic Waste – the two objectives in many cases are a tradeoff to one another. To me, a KPI therefore in the ideal case focuses not on one, but on 2 separate perspectives, both of which matter.
Click here to read the article https://henning-weigand-yahoo.blogspot.com/2021/01/how-plastics-waste-could-become-such.html
"Creating sustainable packaging is not just a goal, it's a necessity! And we are thrilled to take
on the challenge of defining SMART targets and KPIs to measure our progress. Let's make a
positive impact on our planet, one packaging at a time! 🌍🌿 #SustainabilityInPackaging
#SMARTtargets #KPIs"
Click here to read the article https://henning-weigand-yahoo.blogspot.com/2021/01/how-plastics-waste-could-become-such.html
There is not one solution that resolves all: Packaging fulfills important reasons: for food, pharmaceutical products, for for example it keeps things clean, hygienic, protects from bacteria/viruses, extends the best before date for food and with that reduces the end to end carbon footprint, it protects the environment from toxic chemicals which are required to produce batteries for electric vehicles, solar panels and medicine. Just imagine all these hundreds of millions of face masks, which were used, wrapped in plastics and thrown away through the pandemic in recent years. My impression is, that the recycling rate of those is close to zero. Referring this back to Packaging, it is important to note, that different materials and pack designs have different advantages and challenges from a sustainability perspective. As laid out in my previous stories, I differentiate between three main materials, which are plastics, paper and steel/metal. Whilst Metal and Paper have a high CO² footprint in their production process, but are slightly less problematic from a landfill/river/ocean waste perspective than plastics, Plastics in a linear economy has a slightly lower initial carbon footprint, but is a major challenge to rivers and oceans, as it disperses into microplastics and can stay in the environment for thousands of years.
Therefore, preview / anticipate closely what the key sustainability goal is, that you want to achieve, when you create your pack (best case you avoid a pack completely): Use the right material going in, use the right amount of material going in, think beyond a one-time use and make it circular for multiple rounds of reuse and ultimately recycling. For this designing it the right way is key: Circularity requires an end to end approach and thinking beyond single use, from the start including what happens to the pack after its use.
To summarize: Best case we do not need Packaging and can avoid it, but often that is not possible, and then many aspects need to be considered from the material used, to the amount of material going in all the way to thinking it from the end of use – what happens to the pack after it has been used. Henning Weigand
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Whilst in my story #19 I have elaborated on the meaning of Reduce Reuse Recycle, and my personal preference for the fully circular Reuse model, I would like to focus in today’s story on setting Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for sustainable Packaging.
Clear objectives are key to achieve what the organization is aiming to achieve, for this, clear SMART (Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic Time bound) targets are key to make very clear to the individual what is needed from them to contribute to the overall target. Key Performance Indicators (KPI) are important measures in this context. But how do you measure Sustainability in Packaging? What are the key drivers to be defined as KPI to provide clear targets?
Although sustainability seems clear and straightforward on the first look, it can in many cases mean different things, depending on the focus. Therefore it is important to make ourselves clear, what the main thing is, which we want to achieve: Do we want to have the lowest possible Carbon footprint or do we want to have the least possible plastics waste or something else. Of course, in the ideal case we minimize both, Carbon and Plastics Waste – the two objectives in many cases are a tradeoff to one another. To me, a KPI therefore in the ideal case focuses not on one, but on 2 separate perspectives, both of which matter:
What goes into producing the pack
This perspective is mainly Carbon footprint related (which includes in a circular model the Carbon footprint for collection, return logistics, processing, cleaning in a Reuse and the additional mechanical or chemical recycling process in a Recycle model)
What happens after the pack is used – mainly polluting the environment with e.g. plastics related
This perspective is mainly “waste” related, depending on what happens with the pack after use.
It is important to look into both perspectives, as the decisions for sustainable packaging can be quite different if solely a) or b) is looked at:
Plastic: Whilst a plastic pack e.g. from the FMCG industry often ends up in household trash or – worst case in rivers and oceans, it is a big challenge from a Respecting Nature perspective. It’s Carbon footprint on the other hand is lower than that of a pack made from paper or metal. Plastics is especially a problem if it is single use – in an efficiently managed fully circular model, it might actually be the lowest carbon solution, if a pack cannot be avoided (of course to avoid a Pack is both, best for Carbon input and avoid waste).
Paper: Paper in the perception of many people is considered a sustainable packaging material. Because from the perspective of b) mentioned above, paper (uncoated) does not cause negative impacts such as microplastics (often paper is coatet with plastics, which changes this view). Pure paper – both recycled and virgin paper usually disappears from the environment within a year or less. From the perspective of a) mentioned above though the paper industry is a highly carbon intense industry and therefore paper usually has a high carbon footprint to start with. If carbon reduction is the key focus, it might be debatable, if plastics or paper packaging is more sustainable. In my view always both, point a) AND b) need to be considered for any sustainable packaging KPI. A curiosity is, that often recycled paper has a higher Carbon footprint than virgin paper, it therefore is debatable depending on the perspective, which of the 2 is more sustainable. The answer in many cases is: It depends.
Metal: Similar to paper, metal is perceived less problematic than plastics when it comes to point b) as used metal packs do not tend to pollute major rivers and oceans around the globe to the same extent as plastics does. From the perspective of a) it is to note, that Steel/Metal manufacturing/processing has a high carbon footprint in its production process – often higher than the production of plastics. Similar to paper packaging metal/steel has a high initial carbon footprint, and is not so sustainable from the perspective of a) but it seldom ends up in masses in rivers and oceans. Scrap metal/steel usually has a value, e.g. steel mills use scrap steel feeding into the process of steel manufacturing, which has a positive impact on the production process.
To summarize: When setting KPI for Sustainable Packaging it is important to take into account 2 different aspects in combination: a) what goes into producing the pack (mainly CO² footprint) and b) what happens to the pack after its use. Henning Weigand
Clearly, the most sustainable Packaging is NO Packaging, at all, and the guiding principles of REDUCE REUSE RECYCLE are a broad consensus across the Packaging community. REDUCE is not to be misinterpreted as making the Pack as low in weight as possible, because this usually means, that it is designed for single use (e.g. a paper coffee cup or thin plastic bag), which causes significant follow-on challenges such as micro-plastics. Reduce needs to be interpreted solely as: Avoid using a Pack whenever possible. The best we can do in the Packaging community is make ourselves obsolete. The move towards convenience food and eCommerce home delivery does not help in this, single use packaging has increased significantly through recent years, which is not a great development for Sustainable Packaging. It actually is the root cause of why Packaging has become a major problem.
My personal favorite is the REUSE model, which to me is the true circularity. But for this, Packs must be designed for Reuse; e.g. might need to be made heavier – which could be interpreted as the opposite of Reduce. This however requires a well embedded circular end to end return supply chain. Usually with each circle a Pack makes in a circular chain, it loses some of its properties, such as stability, cleanliness, marketability. After a certain number of rounds it therefore cannot be Reused anymore.
Only in this case, the RECYCLE part steps in, which requires the material to be e.g. mechanically shredded (paper, plastics) with usually higher CO² input. Especially for small consumer packs, in the meantime many European countries have implemented taxes and mandated recycling rates to give used plastics, paper etc. a value and trigger a circular chain. This is the right way, to me though, the Reuse model still takes priority over Recycling: Imagine you drink one coffee every day per year: This would result in 365 use-and-throw paper coffee cups versus one thicker coffee mug e.g. made of thicker HDPE plastics or ceramics, it’s quite simple to visualize which one is more sustainable.
To summarize: The guiding principles in the Packaging community Reduce Reuse Recycle are key to sustainability, they should not be interpreted the wrong way though, to avoid a linear economy and move towards true circularity instead. Henning Weigand
Click here to read the article https://henning-weigand-yahoo.blogspot.com/2021/01/how-plastics-waste-could-become-such.html
Click here to read the article https://henning-weigand-yahoo.blogspot.com/2021/01/how-plastics-waste-could-become-such.html
