Sustainability & the Circular Economy
"Sustainability is more than a buzzword. To us, it's a principle and a practice that should be a mainstream part of 'business as usual'."
The 'circular economy' and 'sustainability' have been slowly becoming key buzzwords in today's 'business as usual'. But...
From the excessive microplastics persisting in the environment to the more visible plastic bottles, it is clear that more needs to be done in the world of packaging. As a result, we at PACK can help you do your part to reduce your packaging waste and (environmental and operational) costs as well as to re-imagine a more sustainable future for your packaging business.
With the above environmental dilemma also comes the global policies, legislations, regulations, and directives implemented to spur mitigative action. In that regard, for many companies engaged in the packaging sector, the transition to a more sustainable packaging business model indeed represents a major change riddled with uncertainties. However, despite this, with such a change comes many opportunities - and we at PACK are perfectly positioned to help you enhance your resilience to such changes and navigate the transition in the long-term.
When transitioning towards more sustainable options one must consider:
- Quality and safety of the product: Not all the sustainable packaging options are suitable for a product and not all the suppliers perform all the necessary testing on their options. As a result, the shelf-life of their products is significantly shorter, and when translated into business terms, means a decrease in their KPIs during manufacturing with an associated increase in the economic losses due to the wasted product material throughout its life cycle.
- Logistics and facilities surrounding the introduction of the new material in their specific location: Depending on a business´ location, some options would just not make sense. For instance, why should they go for compostable materials if they cannot ensure that the packaging would end up in composting facilities?
- Avoid 'greenwashing' options: Since legislation on sustainable packaging will not come in place until 2025, suppliers are entitled to claim that their packaging is '100% recyclable', '100% biodegradable', and/or any associated variant of this branding in the product's label. However, if no independent verification is performed in this regard, FMCG companies could be exposed to millions in fines for inaccurate sustainability labelling, on top of which they would have to spend fortunes in the search for suitable alternative packaging options.
As circular economy specialists in packaging, we provide our clients with the packaging roadmap; the analysis of their different packaging options; and the process designs that cut-down the time and reduce the expenses associated with the materials transition intrinsic to circular economy strategies.
Therefore, we can provide services such as:
- Cost-benefit analyses of each of the proposed solutions taking into account logistics, stakeholder negotiation, and investment.
- Analyses ensuring that the maintenance of product´s quality throughout its life cycle.
- Environmental impact assessments of the packaging, performing life cycle analyses (LCAs), ISO 14001, and chemical analysis composition.
Our Services page has more information on how we can help with your transition towards using more sustainable packaging in principle and practice.